Nancy Pelosi, coming to campaign trail near you?

ALBANY - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to play a role in helping New York Democrats try to capture the Senate majority next year and create an all-Democratic state government just ahead of the politically critical job of redrawing congressional districts, Democrats and a Republican said this week.

Back in Albany, the Republicans who have held the Senate majority since 1966 say they can't wait. They will try to repackage that effort with the California Democrat to right-leaning upstate and suburban New York voters as a threat from a “left-coast, out-of-touch liberal.”

In New York's system of redrawing congressional and legislative lines after every census - the next one is in 2010 - the Democrat-led Assembly and Republican-led Senate have had to compromise on the districts. Good-government groups have long criticized the practice, saying the political majorities protect their incumbents to hold onto power. A Democratic majority would change that balance and could result in more congressional districts dominated by Democratic voters which, in turn, could help to tip the balance of power in Congress.