Republicans were plotting to cement their advantage beneath the surface, too: A top GOP polling firm heard from more potential congressional recruits interested in running for Democratic-held seats last week than it had during the first 10 months of the year. Some 30 moderate Republican incumbents gathered on Capitol Hill to discuss how to replicate Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s playbook in swing districts across the country. And the largest House Republican super PAC sent a memo to donors vowing to compete in every district redder than Virginia, where President Joe Biden won by 10 points.

“We’ve been seeing it in our polling, but Tuesday’s election was tangible confirmation that the political environment is, in fact, as good as we think it is,” said Dan Conston, the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, who wrote the memo. “The map has expanded and will continue to expand deep into Democrat territory. We are looking closely at many seats Biden won by more than 7.”…

Lost among the GOP’s election victories in Virginia and elsewhere were three new redistricting proposals in Republican-controlled states that dismantled a handful of Democratic seats.

North Carolina Republicans last week enacted new congressional districts that will doom first-term Democratic Rep. Kathy Manning and places Democratic Rep. G.K. Butterfield in a seat Biden only carried by a few points. The GOP could control as many as 11 of the state’s 14 districts after the 2022 elections.