New York's third congressional district is one of the few remaining congressional districts represented by a Republican that nevertheless tends to lean more Democratic than the nation as a whole in presidential elections. GOP Congressman Peter King is actually quite popular in the Long Island-based district, winning last month with 64 percent of the vote. But the district might not be in Republican hands much longer, with King potentially looking to run for Senate this cycle.

Republican Congressman Peter King, who was a visible and outspoken supporter of Rudy Giuliani during the 2008 campaign, said he's interested in running for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat when it comes up in 2010.

"I am seriously considering the race for Hillary Clinton's seat," King told AP. "I'm very serious about it."

On potentially running against Caroline Kennedy, King, 64, said, "Obviously it would be a challenge to run against Caroline Kennedy. She has the name identification and for all I know she's a wonderful person. But this is not an anti-Kennedy campaign. "Nothing in life is easy. If anything, that makes the adrenaline pump a little harder."

King would be one of the more formidable candidates the Republicans could put up for Senate in 2010 -- but that doesn't mean that he would have much of a shot at victory, particularly given the sorry state of the GOP in New York state these days. What's more, without him running for reelection, the Republicans' hopes of holding NY-3 aren't great or even moderately good.

Now it's certainly true that New York is slated to lose seats in the upcoming round of redistricting, and with the Democrats now controlling the trifecta and likely maintaining that power position through the redistricting process it is very possible that the days of the GOP holding this district, or a similarly drawn district, were already numbered. That said, this news could be beginning of the story that ends with the Republicans holding no seats in New York state in the not-too-distant future.