If you like getting in the weeds on how state races can impact Congressional races in select states – these are the type of articles you should read.

In states where legislators draw the lines, parties battling for control of a seat here or there are playing for longer-term advantage. Unlike in Texas, which proved a huge windfall for Republicans, most of these redistricted states will see a maximum of perhaps a three-seat shift. The goal, say strategists from both parties, is to find states where redistricting could change a seat or two at a time, on the way to larger congressional majorities. “We focus on winning as many Republican seats as possible,” says Cantrell. “And the byproduct of that is having Republican majorities there for when redistricting gets done.”In this high-stakes national chess game with 7,200 pawns, there are multiple ways to win.

The first way is to draw a new seat that is tailor-made for one’s party. Reapportionment begins when some states grow at a faster pace than others. In the past decade, population has shifted from the Northeast and the Rust Belt to the Sun Belt. The 2010 census is expected to show big population gains in states like Florida, Texas, Georgia and Nevada, all states where legislatures redraw district lines. Consequently, those states will earn extra members of Congress-in all likelihood, three for Texas, two for Florida and one each for Georgia and Nevada. California and Utah are also expected to win new delegates to Congress.

Read the Rest…