“Our Republican base needs to be reminded on almost a daily basis that this election cycle in 2009, in my opinion, is the most critical governor’s race in the modern history of Virginia,” he said. “We have to win this governors race…if you have a Democratically-controlled Senate and a Democrat in the Governor’s Mansion we are going to be at the mercy of the Democrats — and they are not going to be generous in their redistricting.”

While much of the focus will be on the next presidential race, the 2010 midterm elections also loom large: seven of eight states in the Intermountain West will be electing governors, and Nevada and Colorado will hold two of the highest-profile Senate races in the country. Also of import: the fight over redistricting, which will be in the hands of state lawmakers elected next year. The West is expected to pick up four House seats after the once-a-decade redrawing of political boundaries post-census. In the last 20-odd years, Democrats have made California, Oregon, Washington state and Hawaii an integral part of their national political base. But the Rocky Mountain region, like the Midwest, will likely remain a battleground for years to come.