WASHINGTON — With Ohio losing two congressional districts next year, state Republicans will have sweeping powers to draw new seats that could preserve their strong majority in Congress for the next decade while eliminating one Democratic seat and possibly even two.

Not only do the Republicans hold the key posts that decide on the new districts — the governor’s office and both houses of the legislature — but the state’s population has dramatically shifted away from long-time Democratic seats in the northern part of the state.

According to an analysis of the 2010 Census by the Dayton Daily News, the five districts currently held by Democrats lost a staggering 145,790 people since 2000 while the 13 Republicans districts gained 329,154.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Cleveland, lost 90,298 people to reduce her district’s population to just over 540,000. Because the 16 new districts will each have an average of 721,032 people, GOP officials will have to radically change her district to add more than 180,000 people.

“In Ohio, we have a way of determining district boundaries that allows for a completely partisan process, giving the political party that has control over the legislature as well as the governor’s office the ability to make any map it wants,” said Mark Salling, a Cleveland State University demographer who advises the state on census issues.

The only real question for the Republicans is whether they preserve all 13 seats currently held by GOP lawmakers. Many experts believe it will be nearly impossible for Republican officials to eliminate the two Democratic seats necessary to protect all their incumbent House members.

“It’s fairly difficult to envision a plan where the Republicans do not put one of their seats at risk,’’ said Eric Rademacher, a professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati.

Haley Morris, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, said that “the problem Republicans face is that losing two Democratic seats doesn’t mean losing Democratic voters. Why would Republicans want to make their members more vulnerable in a redistricting power grab?’’

Republican Gov. John Kasich, Senate President Tom Niehaus and Ohio House Speaker William G. Batchelder must agree on a new plan by Dec. 7, the deadline for candidates to file to run in next March’s primary elections. The legislature is required to draw the new maps every 10 years based on the latest census.

But the strongest voice is likely to be House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Township, who is under pressure not to sacrifice any of his incumbent House members. Aides to Boehner said he has not had a new congressional map drawn up.

Part of Boehner’s problem stems from the Republican sweep last November when Republicans Steve Chabot of Cincinnati, Jim Renacci of Alliance, Bill Johnson of Poland and Bob Gibbs of Lakeville all ousted Democratic incumbents.

“The success of the last election cycle makes the challenge more difficult to satisfy all of the constituencies,” said Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted.

In addition, Boehner is being urged to create safer districts for two of his closest allies – Republicans Pat Tiberi of Genoa Twp. and Steve LaTourette of Mentor. Tiberi’s Central Ohio district, which includes the state’s fastest-growing county — Delaware — gained about 125,573 people.

David Wasserman, House editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington, predicted that the Republicans will draw a safe seat for Fudge, the state’s only black House member, fold Democrats Betty Sutton and Dennis Kucinich into the same district, and eliminate Johnson’s GOP district along the Ohio River.

“For Republicans to even attempt to eliminate two Democratic seats would be to create more problems than they would solve,’’ Wasserman said.

Wasserman’s map would leave the state with four Democrats — Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Tim Ryan of Niles, Fudge and the winner of a Sutton-Kucinich primary.

But some Republican officials suggest that Kasich and Boehner might want to preserve Johnson, who has loyally supported Boehner this year on passing temporary spending measures that have kept the federal government open. By contrast, Chabot, and Republicans Jean Schmidt of Loveland and Jim Jordan of Urbana voted against the compromise Boehner negotiated with President Barack Obama — a measure that trimmed federal spending by $38 billion from Obama’s original 2011 budget request.

To keep Johnson, GOP officials could place Chabot and Schmidt in the same district.

“There is a way to ax any incumbent that you want,’’ Wasserman said.

The one thing everyone agrees on is that drawing new maps is a painful process.

Scott Borgemenke, who in 2000 drew the current districts as chief of staff for the Ohio Republicans, said that “it’s the only time the Democrats call you a gerrymandering racist and the Republicans call you a traitor because you’re not doing enough for the party.’’

Jack Torry works in the Washington Bureau for the Dayton Daily News and the Columbus Dispatch, Joe Hallett is a Columbus Dispatch reporter and Ken McCall is a reporter for the Dayton Daily News.