When census data is revealed next year, state lawmakers will scurry to redraw the congressional lines. To prepare for that political dogfight, the Republican State Leadership Committee has enlisted an old hand, Ed Gillespie, as its new chairman, to help bolster the GOP’s state ranks come November. “This will be the last election before redistricting, and there are 18 state chambers that could go either way and affect between 25 and 32 U.S. House seats,” Gillespie told National Review Online. “We’ll be focusing on 30 to 40 state races that will be critical in helping to us to get in the best position for the redistricting process.”

Gillespie, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, says that the RSLC’s efforts to elect state legislators, attorneys general, lieutenant governors, and secretaries of state will complement the work of the Republican Governors Association, which is chaired by Gov. Haley Barbour (R., Miss.). “2010 is going to be hugely important,” he says. “It has consequences not just for this cycle but for the rest of the decade. Republicans need to capture the wind that’s blowing at our backs and make major gains in the House and Senate, as well as in state houses and state senates.”

Gillespie says that the RSLC also plays an important role in building the Republican party’s farm team — its roster of up-and-coming state candidates that could go on to run for Congress, governor, or U.S. Senate. He cites Senator-elect Scott Brown (R., Mass.), a former state senator, as a recent example.

Gillespie comes to the RSLC after serving as chairman of Bob McDonnell’s successful gubernatorial campaign in Virginia. He says he’s looking forward to helping 2010 state candidates learn from the McDonnell model. “McDonnell’s campaign proves that if you’re a principled conservative running an inclusive race, and offering a positive-issue agenda with results-oriented solutions, then you can win,” he says. After the victories of Brown and McDonnell, plus Chris Christie’s GOP upset in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race, Gillespie says that 2010 has all of the makings of 1994, when the GOP took control of 20 state legislatures.

“There clearly is a wave building out there,” he says. “The Democrats didn’t get the message from Massachusetts and are largely ignoring the voters. The national environment has created very favorable conditions even for Republicans running at the state level.” GOP state candidates, he adds, “have a great opportunity to win in 2010 by articulating solutions to state problems while making some races, in part, a referendum on what’s happening in Washington.”

Tom Reynolds, a former New York congressman and state assemblyman, will serve as the RSLC’s vice-chairman under Gillespie.