Ohio -- Numerous headlines leading up to the midterm elections this year earmarked 2018 as another "Year of the Woman", but that's not quite how races shook out here in the Buckeye State.

"Ohio, it was a pretty dismal election for women, without a doubt," said David Cohen, assistant director of The University of Akron's Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.

While the country saw an up-tick overall in the number of women elected to Congress, only three women won their congressional races across the state.

“They were all incumbents,” Cohen explained. “They were all expected to win, because they were running in very safe districts.”

And aside from Melody Stewart’s election to the state supreme court, every other female on the ballot for congressional and statewide seats lost.

Cohen points to races like the one in Northeast Ohio’s 14th district, a district that Democrat Betsy Rader tried and failed to flip.

While she raised nearly $2 million, it wasn't enough to win against GOP incumbent Dave Joyce.

“I think there are some observers that feel had there been more investment in that district, the result might have been different,” Cohen said. “But then again, no congressional district actually changed hands on Election Day in Ohio.”

But despite this year’s results, Cohen said there are several female politicians in the state to keep tabs on.

"Tavia Galonski and Emelia Sykes, both members of the state legislature, both have very bright futures ahead of them,” he said. “Sarah Latourette, her father used to be in the U.S. House of Representatives, I think she’s a real star in the making, so we do have some young blood in the state that I think are really going to be around for a long time in Ohio politics.”

And this is a conversation we’ll definitely continue hearing about --- after all, the days are counting down until the 2020 election.