Trent Lott has announced his retirement after 34 years in the U.S. Senate. The Republican from Mississippi is second in command in the Senate’s minority leadership.

Mississippi’s Republican governor will appoint someone (probably a Republican) to take Lott’s seat until Mississippians vote in a special election. Lott’s seat will then be up for regular election in 2012.

Lott’s retirement is particularly interesting because he is the sixth Republican senator to retire whereas no Democrats have retired. The Democrats control the Senate very narrowly — there are 49 Democrats and two Democratic-leaning independents in the 100-member senate — and an incumbent’s retirement puts the seat in danger of switching parties.

UPDATE (Lara Kattan): Apparently the good Senator’s intentions might be motivated by money (feign shock!). From the NY Times: “By resigning before the end of the year, Mr. Lott would beat the effective date for new ethics rules that double to two years the amount of time former Senators must wait before they can join a firm to lobby former colleagues. The new rule applies to those who leave office “on or after” Dec. 31.”