Story highlights The Democratic Governors Association is targeting nine states in upcoming races

The stakes for Democrats are more than just control over state governments: They're about the redrawing congressional maps

Washington (CNN) For almost a decade now, governors' offices have been a weak link for national Democrats, with Republicans racking up stunning and continuous wins in deep-blue bastions like Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Now, Democrats building a long-term strategy for retaking power in Congress and the states are counting on winning big in statehouse races over the next two years.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi huddled privately with the leaders of the Democratic Governors Association last weekend and looked over maps of top targets. The group has 14 states in its sights and believes it would be impossible to lose more states to Republicans, especially if President Donald Trump continues to struggle.

The organization has picked out nine states that Hillary Clinton won and another five that went to President Barack Obama. Some of the targets are clear -- true blue bastions like Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois, where Republicans upset Democratic favorites in 2014. But others are likely to be a slog reminiscent of the drubbing Clinton took in the Rust Belt, like fights in Wisconsin and Ohio.

"Look, there's anger against this President and what he has done and the chaos, the unpredictability, the violations of the Constitution," said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, the group's incoming president, who will lead their 2018 efforts. "So there is anger in every state -- to different proportions certainly. So we are going to look forward to 2018 and governors are absolutely pivotal to this."

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