The decision on Proposition 140 means that more than two-dozen state lawmakers, including the president pro tem of the Senate and the Assembly speaker, will be forced to leave office next year when their current terms are up, along with other senior members of the Legislature.

Across the state, candidates are feverishly jockeying for position.

The court's ruling, coupled with a stringent campaign finance reform law approved by voters last year, has made that jockeying a lot more difficult.

Opponents of Proposition 140, led by Democratic incumbents and their supporters, saw the 9th Circuit as their last best hope. They argued that Proposition 140 placed an unfair burden on voters by banning lawmakers for life from running for office after serving three terms in the Assembly and two terms in the Senate. The ban also applied to constitutional officers.

But the court, considered the most liberal federal appeals system, disagreed. The court's 9-2 ruling upholding the constitutionality of Proposition 140 came as a bitter surprise to the Democrats, who had confidently predicted the court would strike down the measure.

Partisans in the battle over Proposition 140 acknowledge that the measure ultimately will wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court, but it is unlikely that the high court will decide the issue before the critical period, the November 1998 elections. Moreover, opponents of the proposition saw the 9th Circuit as the last real chance to defeat a proposition that voters approved at the ballot box.

They fear that the full U.S. Supreme Court, ruled by Republican appointees, will be far less likely to dismantle Proposition 140 and they're probably right.

So veteran politicians across the state are getting their bags packed and starting to polish their resumes. Those inside the Legislature who are not "termed out" are starting to put together new leadership coalitions -- including a new speaker in the Assembly and and a new leader in the Senate.

Capitol watchers expect the Democrats to retain their majorities in both houses, but the appeals court's ruling could easily upset that prediction.

One thing is certain: At this time next year, there will be a lot of new faces in the Legislature.

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