'Magic number' for House GOP

Guy Vander Jagt, chairman of the National GOP Congressional Committee, says a Republican takeover of the House in 1982 is within reach, Monitor correspondent Godfrey Sperling Jr. writes.

''The magic number we now need to pick up is 26,'' the Michigan congressman told reporters at breakfast Oct. 28. But with Democratic defections, he expects to need to pick up only 20 seats.

''Then we'll gain some 10 or 12 House seats through redistricting,'' Mr. Vander Jagt said. ''So that means we will only have to defeat about eight Democratic incumbents to gain control.''

But He also said there would have to be a little upturn in the economy - ''if inflation and interest rates are down just a bit, enough to give the people hope that Reagan's plan is working'' - for his prediction of a GOP takeover in the House to prove out.