Gillespie took partisan map-making to a new level.

Right after President Obama’s 2008 win, Gillespie helped dispirited Republicans claw back into power one statehouse at a time.

Instead of asking donors for the big bucks needed to swing Congressional races, they focused on legislative contests in certain states — those where Republicans only needed to flip a few seats to win control of the legislatures and the map-making that would occur after the 2010 census.

Named “REDMAP,” the project helped the GOP win control of 22 state legislatures in 2010, paving the way for GOP gains in Congress in 2012, even as Obama won re-election.

Read more: Washington Post, October 31