These are hard times for Republicans in New York — and, unfortunately, it appears the situation might get a whole lot worse.

The surprise loss yesterday of another state Senate seat means that the GOP now holds a slim one-seat advantage in the upper chamber of the legislature. With Democrats already in control of the state Assembly and the governor’s mansion, this poses a big problem for the GOP when it’s time to redraw the political map after the 2010 Census.

Republicans control just six seats from New York in the U.S. House following three loses last year. And with moderate Rep. James Walsh retiring and speculation the Rep. Tom Reynolds might quit in the wake of financial scandal at the National Republican Congressional Committee, which he previously chaired, that doesn’t offer much hope.

If the GOP does lose the state Senate, allowing the Democrats’ to control the redistricting process, expect at least three seats to move to the other column. Having left my native Utica more than six years ago, I hardly have a good grasp of what’s happening to the party. But even from afar, I’m not liking what I see.