The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday that 10 Republican state senators are prohibited from running for reelection after participating in the longest walkout in state history, making one-third of the chamber ineligible for reelection.

Last year’s six-week walkout was an effort to boycott Democratic-proposed bills on abortion, transgender healthcare, and gun control that the GOP lawmakers opposed. Senate President Rob Wagner did not excuse the senators’ absences due to a 2022 voter-approved measure that banned lawmakers from reelection if they racked up more than 10 unexcused absences. Under the measure, the secretary of state barred the senators from the ballot. 

In response, Sens. Tim Knopp, Daniel Bonham, Suzanne Weber, Dennis Linthicum, and Lynn Findley, all of whom participated in the boycott, filed a lawsuit claiming the language of Measure 113 was unclear in what term they became ineligible to run, which is cited in the amendment as being, “for the term following the election after the member’s current term is completed.”

“We obviously disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Knopp said. “But more importantly, we are deeply disturbed by the chilling impact this decision will have to crush dissent.”

Based on their perceived language of the measure, the GOP senators argued that they would be able to run for reelection in November and serve another term before their ineligibility would begin in November 2028.

The state’s Supreme Court disagreed, saying that though the wording was vague, the goal of the measure was clear in preventing lawmakers who were absent more than 10 times from serving in the next term, the Associated Press reported.

“Because the text is capable of supporting the secretary’s interpretation, and considering the clear import of the ballot title and explanatory statement in this case, we agree with the secretary that voters would have understood the amendment to mean that a legislator with 10 or more unexcused absences during a legislative session would be disqualified from holding legislative office during the immediate next term, rather than the term after that,” the justices wrote in the ruling.

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“I’m disappointed, but can’t say I’m surprised that a court of judges appointed solely by (former) Gov. (Kate) Brown and Gov. (Tina) Kotek would rule in favor of political rhetoric rather than their own precedent,” Weber said. “The only winners in this case are Democrat politicians and their union backers.”

With 17 seats in the state Senate, Democrats need at least three Republicans present each day of the legislative session to pass bills. Without two-thirds of the chamber present, the 25 Republicans in the 60-member House would have the ability to block Democratic-proposed legislation by not taking part in the monthlong legislative session that starts Monday and will concentrate on the state’s opioid crisis and housing production, the Oregon Capital Chronicle reported.