The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012

By Aaron Blake,
WashPost
Published: November 18

With just less than a year to go until the 2012 election and most states having wrapped up their once-a-decade redistricting process, we’re starting to get a good sense about where the key House battles will take place.

A combination of an unpopular Congress, a volatile electorate, and changes resulting from redistricting mean there could be dozens of competitive races in just a handful of states.

But which states?

Today we look at 10 states that could determine whether Democrats retake the House or the GOP holds its majority next year.

To the Line!

10. New Hampshire: This state isn’t on the Line because of anything having to do with redistricting since it only has two congressional seats. Recent history has shown the state to be a central national battleground, however. Both New Hampshire seats went Democratic in 2006 when the party won the majority and then flipped to Republican when the GOP retook the House in 2010. And both will remain competitive next year, no matter how they are drawn. If Democrats win one of them, they’ve had a good night. If they win both, they’ve probably reclaimed the House again.

(More here.)