Rep. Westmoreland named NRCC's deputy chairman

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) will be the National Republican Congressional Committee's (NRCC) new deputy chairman, the committee announced Tuesday morning.

"Lynn Westmoreland is a well-respected leader in the House, and I'm pleased that he will serve as deputy chairman at the NRCC," said committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) in a statement. "Lynn is savvy, thoughtful and a hard worker. He knows what it takes to win elections."

Westmoreland will take over the role Walden had for the last election. In the 2010 cycle, Westmoreland served as an NRCC vice chairman, heading up the group's redistricting efforts and working with state legislators to make sure the maps were the most beneficial for the party in the states they controlled.

That let Westmoreland play a key role in helping the GOP retain its House majority despite an otherwise disappointing election cycle. Republicans locked in their 2010 gains in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio and used new maps to target Democrats in other states, giving them a big edge not only in 2012 but for the rest of the decade in House races.