When Georgia Rep. Nathan Deal announced Friday that he’s running for governor next year, he became the ninth House Republican to forgo a 2010 re-election campaign. Just four House Democrats have done the same.

That partisan skew of the early 2010 open seats might be bad news for the GOP. The Republicans endured another round of big seat losses in 2008 after losing the House majority in the 2006 elections — and the party suffered a greater net loss last year in districts that departing incumbents had left open than in districts that incumbents were defending.

There is some salve for the GOP, though, in its early 2010 cycle open-seat situation. The districts that are being left open by Republican retirees or seekers of other offices are reliably Republican-leaning.