By Marian Cogan, Politico

While conservatives are already celebrating the “Year of the Republican Woman,” thanks to a record number of GOP female candidates for Congress, Democrats fear the opposite trend: the year of the women’s wipeout.

Three Democratic women first elected to Congress in 1992 — the original “Year of the Woman” — are at risk. Nearly a quarter of the 56 female Democrats in the House are considered vulnerable, including once rising stars like Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Betsy Markey of Colorado and Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio.

Even if female GOP hopefuls like Sharron Angle in Nevada, Carly Fiorina in California and Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire make it to the Senate, the elections will still quite likely bring a net loss of women in Congress.

But the impact will be more than just a gender numbers game: It could have broader implications for policy and the political culture of the Capitol in an era in which women have made a significant impact on the House and the Senate, ranging from passing legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to establishing a Democratic Women’s Working Group and holding key committee leadership positions. The impact of more women in Congress has also trickled down to smaller, cultural changes, like installing breast-feeding rooms for new mothers on the Hill.

“This should trouble anyone who believes that a Congress should be truly representative of the people it serves,” said Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who won a special election to replace Labor Secretary Hilda Solis last year and is the first Chinese-American elected to Congress.

Other women who helped build the Democratic majority, including Reps. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, Suzanne Kosmas of Florida, Dina Titus of Nevada, Kathy Dahlkemper of Pennsylvania, Betty Sutton of Ohio, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota and Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, are engaged in some of the most competitive races in the country.

To read the full story, click here.