“It is the year of the woman, all right. But only for Democrats,” the New York Times reports.

“The number of Republican women in Congress next year will actually drop, even as the ranks of Democratic women swell to record heights. With a few races still undecided, the new Congress will have at least 105 Democratic women and 19 Republican women.”

“But that is not all: From Congress to governor to state legislatures, far more Democratic women ran in this cycle than Republican women. And that means fewer Republican women on the bench, gathering experience and credentials to move up to the next level.”

First Read: “Before Election Day 2018, Republicans held 13 of the 40 congressional districts with the highest share of adults over 25 with a college degree.”

“After the midterms, however, that’s now down to just four. And if Rep. Mimi Walters in California ultimately loses her still-uncalled reelection race, as expected, it’ll be just three Republicans remaining.”

“That surge of Democratic enthusiasm from college-educated voters was captured in the exit polls, too. Overall, college graduates broke for Democrats in the midterms by 20 percentage points, while those with no college degree were equally split. Among only white college graduates, Democrats had an advantage of 8 percentage points. And among just female while college graduates, it was 20 points.”

“To win re-election, President Trump must wage a two-front war: Not only does he have to defend Democratic-leaning Midwest states that sealed his victory in 2016, but he now needs to defend against clear Republican erosion in the South and Southwest,” Mike Allen reports.

Said former White House aide Doug Sosnik: “Changing demographics and Trump have blown up the electoral map that has dominated American politics since 1992.”

“Sosnik projects that there could be more tossup states in the South and Southwest than in the Midwest — with almost twice the number of electoral votes at stake.”

“House Republicans immediately resumed a wartime posture Wednesday after electing its new leadership — vowing to aggressively resist Democrats’ agenda and work to recapture the House majority after being routed in last week’s elections,” Politico reports.

“In his first press conference after Republicans chose him to be House minority leader next year, Rep. Kevin McCarthy largely attributed the GOP wipeout to historical trends while also repeatedly blaming spending by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as the cause of several Republican defeats in close contests.”