BY MATT WICKENHEISER

MaineToday Media, Inc.

Gov. John Baldacci will enter his last two years in office with a slightly altered staff lineup.

Rebecca Wyke is leaving as commissioner of the Department of Administrative & Financial Services to take a top post with the University of Maine System. She's being replaced by Ryan Low, who had been Baldacci's deputy chief of staff. Jack Cashman, a senior economic adviser to the governor, has been appointed to the state Public Utilities Commission. And Michael Mahoney, Baldacci's chief legal counsel, is leaving for private practice.

Such moves are fairly typical when an administration is entering its final years, experts say.

"Anytime an executive is wrapping up his or her tenure in office, you start to see a fairly high number of high-level administration officials leaving," said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at the University of Maine. "It happens to all administrations as they wrap up."

Speaker of the House Glenn Cummings said there is a natural tendency for those in political jobs to look ahead as their elected boss' tenure winds down and figure out what they need to do personally and professionally. And, he said, those jobs tend to be "extremely stressful, high-demand."

"I think some of this is the natural ebb and flow of jobs in politics, where there is a level of fluidity," Cummings said.

Baldacci spokesman David Farmer noted that only Mahoney is leaving state government; the others are taking different positions. In the case of Cashman and Low, the positions are higher than the ones they held.

"This is just part of the normal transition between legislative sessions," Farmer said. "These jobs are high-stress and high-watt -- you do them for a certain amount of time."

Mahoney said his immediate predecessors -- Tom Federle and Kurt Adams -- each spent about two years as chief counsel. That, he said, "seems to be more or less the standard amount of time."

Mahoney said he wanted to leave, but not in the middle or end of a legislative session. "This seemed to be the time period that worked out the best for the governor and myself," he said.

Kay Rand, who was chief of staff for Gov. Angus King, said it's hard to keep people when they see attractive opportunities.

"We experienced turnover, too. It's really hard work," she said. "People see opportunities and need a break -- the combination is pretty attractive." She joked: "I used to threaten people to get them to stay."

House Minority Leader Joshua Tardy, R-Newport, said he understood that the governor wanted to make sure his team was in place for the final two years, so he was not surprised that there was some shuffling.

"The bottom line is: He's got the reins, and he's ultimately got the ability to steer the agenda and move the state in the right direction," Tardy said. "Like him or not, he's our governor, he's our leader. I guess I don't see sort of a lame duck at all."

Farmer said the governor plans to focus on energy concerns, health care issues and reforming state government, in addition to the state budget. The state is facing an uncertain revenue picture, Farmer said, and how that affects the governor's budget remains to be seen.

"It's his responsibility to move that forward, to begin that conversation," Farmer said. "Whether he's got 10 years or two years left, that doesn't change."