Republicans are being throttled in college towns across the country, imperiling their competitiveness in key states

• Republicans are more and more faltering in college towns. 
• Counties where Democrats used to post modest wins have now become routine blowouts for the party.
• In recent cycles, the GOP has struggled with suburban and college-educated voters, an issue the party must address.

In decades past, an array of US counties that contain some of the country's most prominent college towns were often closely split between Democrats and Republicans, reflective of the more liberal-oriented university centers and more moderate-to-conservative suburbs and exurbs balancing each other out.