Members likely to be pitted against each other with Ohio losing two seats

[The Northerner]

Ohio is losing two congressional seats, which means 2012 could feature incumbent battles galore in the Buckeye State.

With Ohio Republicans in charge of the redistricting process, two Cleveland-area Democrats are almost sure to be drawn into the same district. The big unknown is where else the GOP decides to eliminate the second seat.

The GOP controls redistricting after winning the governor's mansion and holding both chambers of the state legislature in 2010. But the announcement two weeks ago that the state will lose two House seats is likely to jeopardize a Republican seat.

By winning five seats in Ohio in 2010, Republicans are basically at their seat ceiling right now. They hold 13 of 18 seats, and with two of those seats set for elimination, maintaining 13 winnable districts will be very, very difficult.

"That would require some acrobatics very few Republicans have ever attempted," said David Wasserman, a redistricting expert at the Cook Political Report.

The first seat is relatively easy for Republicans to eliminate. All five Democrats in the state's delegation are clustered in adjoining districts in northern and northeastern Ohio.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/mapping-the-future/-ohios-loss-of-two.html

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