Republican State Representative Kent Sorenson has recently announced his run for the State Senate in 2010. According to the Iowa Republican this increases the number of seats House Republicans will need to pick-up 11 seats to regain control of the House:
Sorenson’s [...] decision, however, is bad news for House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, who already has to deal with some key retirements. Paulsen and House Republicans already have their work cut out for them in needing to win seven seats to wrestle control away from the Democrats in that chamber.
In addition to Sorenson leaving to run for the Senate, Representatives Rants and Roberts are running for governor, and Jodi Tymeson isn’t seeking re-election. That means House Republicans would have to elect 11 new members to gain control, a difficult task even in the best of political environments.
