SACO — Make no mistake about it – Sen. Linda Valentino loves her job.

“I love the excitement, the negotiation, even the arguments and the floor fights,” she said Sunday. “I love all the people I’ve met.”

But after 12 years in the Legislature – the last four as a senator – and with responsibilities at home, Valentino has decided this session will be her last. She announced on Sunday that she won’t seek re-election to her District 31 seat.

“Mom will (soon) be 88. For the last three years, my sister has been taking care of her,” Valentino said candidly in an interview at Fairfield School, just before the Saco Democratic caucus was set to begin. “It’s my turn to step up to the plate.”

Her mother Lucette fell and broke her hip three years ago and had a replacement, she said. And since then, she’s had a series of TIAs, commonly referred to as mini-strokes.

“She still gets out, goes shopping, but someone needs to tell her to eat, to take her medication,” Valentino said. “My sister Debbie has been doing it, and she has a family. And she has medical problems.”

As both Valentino and another sister, Vicky, who lives in North Conway, New Hampshire, try to help – their mother needs someone with her 24 hours a day – it has been a struggle, and more.

“The guilt you feel when we’re in session – I’m in Augusta most of the week,” she said.

She’s a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a daughter, and a legislator with a heavy responsibility, as she’s the lead Democrat on the appropriations committee.

“My husband (Curtis Scamman) has been so supportive,” she said.

Valentino’s situation and that of her sisters is not uncommon.

“As Americans’ average life expectancy continues upward, the need for family members to step in and take care of their aging loved ones will only increase,” according to Aging Care, quoting a report from the Pew Research Center. Thirty-six percent of U.S. adults provide some kind of caregiving assistance for an older relative, according to Aging Care.

So on Sunday afternoon, Valentino made her announcement in front of about 650 people at the Democratic caucus in Saco, then went on to the Old Orchard Beach caucus – one of the five towns in her district – to let them know her intentions.

With the legislative session continuing, she’s back in Augusta today. She will serve out the remainder of her term, until a new senator is chosen at the November election.

As she looks to her years in the State House, three accomplishments come to mind, among them her sponsorship of a bill that resulted in a new cold case unit that is already paying off. Just last week, a man was arrested and charged with killing a 16-year-old girl in Skowhegan in 1980.

And in 2010, Valentino initiated an effort to honor Maine’s female veterans with a plaque in the State House and commemoration coins for each woman veteran. That effort helped promote discussion with the women veterans of the benefits that could be due them as a result of their service.

And while the bill still has to make its way through the Legislature, Valentino said she’s proud to have been able to get a unanimous “ought to pass” vote from the judiciary committee on a new courthouse for York County.

Today, she’ll be engaged in a public hearing on the state’s $73 million surplus, and she’s got her eye on the tax conformity debate and education funding. Valentino said there’s deep negotiating taking place on the tax conformity piece. “I’ve been on the phone all weekend,” she said.

Going forward, Valentino said she’ll support Rep. Justin Chenette in the race for her Senate seat, which covers Saco, Hollis, Limington, Old Orchard Beach and part of Buxton. He has been her campaign manager, walked in every parade with her, attended bake sales and firefighters’ musters, and more, she said.

Chenette and Rep. Barry Hobbins both announced on Sunday that they’ll seek the Democratic nod for the seat in the June 14 primary.

“Barry is a wonderful Legislator, but I think it is Justin’s time,” she said.

Valentino thanked her supporters on Sunday.

“I put my all into it,” she said of her Senate work. “Until my term expires, I will give 100 percent to the people who elected me.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].