Already tired of the presidential election?

Writing for Ballot Box, Josh Goodman reminds us that state elections are going to get plenty of attention pretty soon.

Well, in two years, that is:

While the federal elections might be snoozers, it will be a crucial year in state politics. The governors' races in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan and a host of smaller states all should be competitive. Who knows, Ohio and Florida could get interesting.

And, even for people who don't care much about state policy (shame on you!), these are the governors who will oversee the congressional redistricting process. That factor will create a lot more interest in gubernatorial races, not to mention interest in state legislative elections.

That ought to be plenty of fun. Especially because, for the most part, state legislatures have a lot more to do with redistricting than the governors.

Sam Stein -- writing for the Huffington Post -- has put together a very good look ahead to the 2010 election cycle. He reports that:

Republican officials now believe that the party's best hope for retaking seats in Congress may come during gubernatorial elections in 2010. Should the GOP win back the majority of these seats (Democrats currently occupy 28 state capitols), they would be extremely well positioned to influence the redistricting of the political map that will come after the 2010 census.

This isn't the first story we've seen along these lines. Both parties recognize the potential of the election two years from now, and campaign organizations are gearing up in preparation.

That includes this campaign committee:

[I]n almost every state, the legislative chambers will have a say into how the congressional districts are re-drawn. And in this regard the governor's power is limited. Oftentimes, in fact, redistricting plans get sent to state courts to adjudicate disagreements.

In 2010, there will be more than 1,150 state senate races and more than 4,950 state house races held nationwide. Here, too, Democrats and Republicans are cognizant of any edge.

"A flip of 50 state seats in key chambers could mean a gain -- or a loss -- of 15 Democratic Congressional seats in the next round of redistricting," said Michael Sargeant, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. "We need to continue winning statehouses so that we can be at the table when these district lines are drawn."

The quote from my boss is a good reminder of the importance of the work we do. Control of the nation's legislatures have long-term consequences outside the boundaries of any individual state. If Republicans are going to throw all their resources into the 2010 election, we need to be prepared to defend our chambers and pick up those where the GOP is vulnerable.

In Michigan, there are a lot of regulations restricting the types of people who are allowed to vote absentee:

[It] is limited to those 60 and older, or anyone who will be out of town on Election Day, is in jail, has religious reasons for not attending the polls or needs assistance at the polls.

Democratic lawmakers have sponsored legislation to open up the process and make it available to any citizen who requests a ballot by mail, for any reason. And of course, the Republicans have blocked the bill, claiming that they are scared of 'voter fraud.'

Democrats rallied at the state Capitol yesterday, protesting the delay. But the GOP has a four-seat majority in the upper chamber, which of course, makes passage of the legislation unlikely.

The Michigan Senate isn't on the ballot this fall, but in 2010, this chamber is definitely going to be on on our target list.

This issue is a perfect example of why. I don't need to launch into a lecture about civic responsibility and participatory democracy 12 hours before Independence Day.

But I will say this -- Voting rights are a fundamental difference between our party and the other guys. We try to make the process as open as possible, and they try to close it down.

Putting aside all other considerations, that's reason enough for me to vote Democratic year in and year out.