The last time Republicans controlled a statehouse chamber in Alabama, Ulysses S. Grant was president and Thomas Edison still hadn’t perfected electric lighting.

But if the GOP’s gains are as big as many predict this election, Alabama could be one of many states that will see one or both statehouse chambers go from Democratic blue to Republican red. Democrats currently enjoy a 5-seat advantage in the Alabama Senate and a 15-seat advantage in the Alabama House. However, Tim Storey, an elections expert at the National Conference of State Legislatures, says that hold may not last.

“If Alabama were to move to the GOP column, it would reflect a 20-year trend of Southern legislatures re-aligning under the Republican banner,” Storey says. Democrats have been in power in the Alabama state House since 1870 and the Senate since 1872.

Who will control statehouses in 2011 is one of the big questions that voters in 46 states will answer on November 2, when they cast ballots for more than 6,000 legislative seats. Other state chambers that insiders say could flip to Republican control include the Senate in New Hampshire and New York; the House in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania; both chambers in Wisconsin; and the Montana House and Alaska Senate, both currently tied in terms of party control.

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