By MICHAEL COOPER
c.2010 New York Times News Service
The midterm elections are being closely watched to determine whether Republicans will have a majority in Congress for the next two years. But it is the outcome of a lower-profile battle over state legislatures that could strengthen the Republican Party for a decade.
Republicans are within reach of gaining control of eight or more chambers in state legislatures this fall, according to interviews with Republicans, Democrats and independent political analysts. That would give Republicans the power to draw more congressional districts in their favor, since the expected gains come just as many legislatures will play a major role in the once-a-decade process of redrawing district boundaries.
Republicans said that the expect to win control of house chambers in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and of the Wisconsin state senate, and they said that they saw at least a dozen other states where they have a reasonable chance of winning control of legislative chambers.