While Senate colleagues halted proceedings during the special legislative session to applaud Harford County Sen. J. Robert Hooper for nearly nine years of service, county Republicans began the task of looking for his successor.
Hooper, 71 and in frail health, walked into the Senate chamber Thursday, ready to work on the tax package one day after announcing his resignation. He arrived in the middle of a colleague's speech on increasing the sales tax.
The Republican from Street, who has represented District 35 since 1999, received a standing ovation from senators, staff and observers in the balcony.
The applause continued, and before Sen. Ulysses Currie, chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, could resume, members approved a resolution honoring Hooper's service.
"We will miss your presence in the Senate chamber and your contribution to this body," the resolution said.
Hooper said, "I can't explain it in words, the honor and privilege of having my name up there [on the Senate vote board] with the folks who are here now and have been for the past eight years. It's been a privilege to represent Harford County. I'm not sure I deserve it, but that's where the good Lord put me for those years."
Hooper has battled colon cancer for the past few years and suffered a mild heart attack late last year. He announced Wednesday in Bel Air that he will resign effective Dec. 31.
The legislator that many called the Hoop is known for high-fiving staff members and legislators in the State House.
"He brought some down-home country values to the Senate, and we're not going to forget him very soon," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller.
Sen. David R. Brinkley, the minority leader, called Hooper "a genuine gentleman who lives the life he preaches.
"He sets things on his own terms and does what is in the best interest of his district," Brinkley said. "This decision to step aside is emblematic of who Bob Hooper is."
Illness and the rigors of the special session convinced Hooper that he could not continue representing the district that includes 78,170 registered voters residing in northern Harford County and much of the Bel Air area.
In a regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday, the Harford County Republican Central Committee set about what Michael A. Geppi Sr., central committee chairman, called "a solemn and humbling task" of naming a successor.
