One of my readers dined last night with a high-level Republican tracking the 2010 races closely. This high-level Republican, asked about the outlook for next year’s House races, said that he believes if nothing changes, the Republicans will gain 20 to 22 seats in the House; with money and candidates, 35 to 40 seats.

With the House currently consisting of 258 Democrats and 177 Republicans, the GOP would need to gain 41 seats to control the chamber. (Having said that, if the GOP gained 30-something seats, it would not be surprising to see whatever conservative or Blue Dog Democrats remain contemplate changing parties, as a few Democratic lawmakers did in 1994.)

(Note that earlier in the week, the head of the NRCC said the GOP had 65 top-tier challengers, with a few of those competing against each other, so the number of incumbent Democrats or open seats with “top-tier” GOP candidates is in the high 50s or 60.)

Interesting that this high-level Republican mentioned money, as news is breaking that the RNC just “raised $8.79 million in October, in what party officials say sets a new one-month record for the party in an off-cycle year.”