With less than a year left before the 2012 congressional elections, the fight over redrawing Ohio’s political map means some candidates don’t know yet where they’ll end up running.The resulting confusion is making it more difficult for some to raise money, organize their campaigns and know which voters to woo.Most incumbents have a pretty good idea how their U.S. House districts will look next year, but challengers who don’t have their network of volunteers and staff in place are at a bigger disadvantage. So are incumbents whose districts are changing significantly.Potential donors want to know whether the candidates who are asking for money will end up representing them. And the candidates want to make sure they’re not spending time knocking on doors in neighborhoods that might be outside their district.Voters are confused, too.“I’ve heard, ‘Where is your district; where are you running?’ ” said state Sen. Nina Turner, a Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge in her Cleveland district. “All I can do is speculate and tell people what I know.”U.S. House district lines for Ohio have been in limbo since they were approved in September, because Democrats and voter advocates claim the map unfairly favors Republicans.Democrats have taken steps to put the issue before voters next year, so Republicans are now trying to come up with a revised congressional map to head off a costly political fight.It’s unclear whether lawmakers will be able to reach an agreement before the end of the year. Leaders in the Ohio House say talks are continuing, but they must pass a revised map within a few weeks to avoid holding a presidential and U.S. House primary in June and other primary contests in March.At the same time, Democrats are circulating petitions to get the redistricting issue on the ballot. There’s also a lawsuit in southwest Ohio asking a judge to draw new lines since lawmakers can’t solve it.The candidates running for Congress can’t wait for the final map to begin designing their strategy.“It’s like building a business. When you’re putting a campaign together, you need some predictability,” said Steve Fought, a spokesman for Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Toledo whose district is now likely to include parts of Cleveland and its suburbs.The uncertainty is also affecting fundraising, he said“Donors are like anybody else,” Fought said. “They want to know what your district is and who your opponent is.”Kaptur now faces a primary fight against U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland after they were thrown into the same district.Running for the Republican nomination in the northern Ohio district is Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber, the man thrust into the political spotlight after questioning Barack Obama about his economic policies during the 2008 presidential campaign.Roman Schroeder, his campaign director, said that uncertainty over redistricting is “a lot like shooting blind” and that it makes it a little tougher to identify voters and recruit volunteers.“It’s definitely impacted where we hold our events,” he said, “where we put our headquarters.”The uncertainty over the district lines played a part in pushing one candidate out of a congressional race in the Cincinnati area.Ohio state Rep. Connie Pillich said this week that the redistricting delays gave her more time to think about running for Congress and that she eventually decided she could do more good in Columbus than Washington.Pillich, a Democrat, initially planned to run against Republican Rep. Jean Schmidt in the 2nd Congressional District. But a revised congressional map moved her home into the district now held by Republican Steve Chabot.A race against Schmidt would have been more competitive, she said.Before pulling out of the race, she said, the uncertainty made it tough to know where to campaign.“People all over both districts are encouraging me to run,” she said. “But I can’t tell them where I’ll be running.”