The Cook Political Report today shifted 18 more U.S. House races toward Democrats despite Republicans' massive ad spending.

• Democrats are now expected to gain nine to 19 seats, the nonpartisan forecast says.

🏛️ Cook's Erin Covey writes: "That would give them 224 seats on the lower end and 234 on the upper end." (218 seats make a House majority.)

• "At this point, Democrats only need to win 20% of the [21] toss-ups to get to a majority, assuming the seats that favor Democrats in our ratings all break their way."

The shifts include:

• Five seats — in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Washington — moving from toss-ups to leaning Democratic, including Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks' (R-Iowa) tough rematch against Democrat ⁠Christina Bohannan.
• Cook nudged four races — in Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia — from leaning Republican to toss-ups. That's good news for Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.), whose district was warped by mid-decade redistricting.
• Republicans' hold on other races in Kentucky, Maine, Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Indiana slipped, shifting them to Lean R or Likely R. Democrats' hold on Nevada, New York and Nebraska races tightened.

Go deeper ... Explore Cook's analysis.

Women are far more negative about AI than men are, Axios' Emily Peck writes from a new Morgan Stanley report.

By the numbers: Morgan Stanley polled 2,000 consumers in late September about their overall perception of AI, positive or negative. It then measured net sentiment (subtracting one from the other).

• Men were considerably more positive (+30%) than women (-1%).

📊 44% of women said they don't want a data center built near their home, compared with 36% of men.

• 👩‍💻 Slightly more women (57%) said they didn't like AI because "it is developing too quickly without enough safeguards." That's compared to 54% of men.

Men were more likely to express concerns about data privacy (49% versus 39% of women).

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1. 🌀 Hurricane Isaias strengthened into a major hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. Forecasters are warning of "life-threatening storm surge" from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Suwannee, Florida, plus damaging winds and power outages across the Gulf and inland. Latest forecast.
2. 🏦 President Trump ordered a new investigation into allegations of mortgage fraud against Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, directing a committee to question the central bank official at a White House hearing next month. More from Courtenay Brown.
3. 🎤 Vice President JD Vance said he won't be watching the execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan if it is livestreamed. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said yesterday that the Dec. 3 execution by firing squad would be "public." More from Josephine Walker.
4. 🕯️ Chicago sports icon Mike Ditka died today at 86 after years of health issues. The former Bears player and coach left a lasting impression on the city's sports and culture, presiding over one of the best teams in NFL history. More from Axios Chicago's Justin Kaufmann.

A Darth Vader lightsaber prop used in the iconic scene where Vader tells Luke Skywalker "I am your father" is among the highlights of an upcoming Star Wars memorabilia auction.

• The Vader saber is expected to fetch at least $1 million.

It's one of more than two dozen lightsaber props featured in the Nov. 12 auction.

• Others include dueling lightsabers wielded by Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker in "Revenge of the Sith," expected to go for at least $10,000 each.

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