Major parties will spend big on state races

National Democrat and Republican organizations will spend tens of millions of dollars on state legislative races nationwide, including in Nevada.

The idea is to control the outcome of redistricting, the decennial process of redrawing boundaries of congressional districts that is controlled by state legislators and done with an eye toward tipping the balance of power in favor of one party or the other.

A March 15 memo from Michael Sargeant, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, says the group is prepared to spend $20 million on state races.

The list of 10 chambers where Democrats expect tight races includes the Nevada Senate, where there are currently 12 Democrats and nine Republicans, a less-than-veto-proof majority.

Matt Compton, spokesman of the DLCC, says Senate majority leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, will be among those leading the Democrats' effort on the ground in Nevada.

Republicans also are maneuvering for control.

In a March 3 column in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove, former adviser to President George W. Bush, wrote: "Control of the state legislature matters whether a state loses or gains seats" in Congress.

Rove added: "To understand the broader political implications, consider that the GOP gained somewhere between 25 and 30 seats because of the redistricting that followed the 1990 census. Without those seats, Republicans would not have won the House in 1994."