Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) -- After 26 years in Congress, Clay Shaw knows what he wants his next job to be: corporate director.

Shaw, a Florida Republican who was defeated in his re- election bid in November, has deferred offers from Washington law firms and rebuffed an inquiry to teach while he pursues his dream.

``It's not a 9-to-5 job, and you can serve on a board and live just about anywhere you want,'' he said.

Shaw, 67, is one of the 22 Republican representatives and six senators lining up new careers after being ousted from the offices that afforded them media attention, devoted aides and a $165,200 congressional salary.

Their losses may ultimately prove to be a financial windfall. Former lawmakers can expect wages from $250,000 to $2 million a year in the outside world, said former House Republican leader Dick Armey, 66, a senior policy adviser with the lobbying firm DLA Piper in Washington.

``I know of only a few cases where members failed to make more than they did as members of Congress,'' Armey said.

Some of the beaten Republicans -- no Democrat running for re-election lost -- are following the traditional route to wealth: lobbying. Defeated Montana Senator Conrad Burns, 71, was hired by Washington-based GAGE Business Consulting and Government Affairs, a lobbying group founded by his former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto. Burns, who by law can't lobby for a year, will bide his time this year as a ``senior adviser,'' according to the firm's Web site.

Abramoff Links

Burns' link to lobbyists contributed to his election loss. He received more money than any other lawmaker from Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to corrupt public officials.

For Burns and other lawmakers, being out of office will allow them to enjoy life away from public scrutiny. Former Minnesota Representative Gil Gutknecht, 55, doesn't have to worry about most House ethics rules or the criticism of political opponents when he lines up paid speaking appearances before interest-group members.

``I can play golf with them and not have to figure out what's right and what's wrong,'' Gutknecht said.

Some of the defeated lawmakers plan to stay involved in the policymaking process at research institutions and universities.

Judeo-Christian Traditions

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, 48, is joining the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a group that describes itself as Washington's ``premier institute dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy.''

Santorum will also be giving paid speeches and is considering writing a book as he seeks to provide his family with ``a little more financial stability and security,'' he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. He told the newspaper he is also fielding offers from law firms and may serve as a television analyst.

Former New Hampshire Representative Charles Bass, 55, became president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, a Washington-based organization that advocates fiscal responsibility.

Bass said he will also follow up on his advocacy for alternative energy by joining the board of directors for New Hampshire-based New England Wood Pellet LLC and by working on a start-up alternative-energy business.

`Walking the Walk'

``I'm sort of walking the walk now myself,'' Bass said.

Former Senator Mike DeWine, 60, will return to his home state and alma mater, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, to teach an undergraduate course in the spring semester called ``Inside American Politics,'' said Richard Little, senior director of communications at the school.

Lincoln Chafee, 53, who lost his Rhode Island re-election bid for the Senate, has accepted a teaching position at Brown University in Providence as a distinguished visiting fellow with the Watson Institute for International Studies.

Academic institutions seek former lawmakers in part because of their proven fund-raising ability and the possibility they could help get legislation for the institution through Congress, said Allen Koenig of the higher education practice at RH Perry and Associates, an executive search firm in Washington.

Iowa's Jim Leach, 64, who served 15 terms in the House before losing in November, has been offered positions at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and Georgetown University, according to his spokesman, Greg Wierzynski.

Former Representative Mike Sodrel, 61, of Indiana said he plans to write a book to help people understand politics. According to Sodrel, people don't understand the meanings of terms like conservative, liberal, moderate and socialist.

``The average person can't sit down and read John Locke's Second Treatise on Government,'' he said. ``I hope to distill it down into something relatively simple.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at Jgoldman6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 18, 2007 00:05 EST