The U.S. Census Bureau has released new demographic data showing that southern and western states have gained House seats due to population gains and migration, while northern states have lost seats, thus shifting some political influence to Republican-heavy towns.
The state population data, released Monday (April 26), is part of the decennial census. The census results will determine how many congressional House seats and Electoral College votes each state will gain or lose, helping to shape the political landscape for the next decade.
New data from the 2020 Census shows that Southwestern Texas will gain two House seats, the most decimated state. Florida and North Carolina in the South and Colorado, Montana and Oregon in the West will each add one seat.
Losing seats in the House are New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
These changes occurred because, under the U.S. Constitution, the 435 congressional seats in the House of Representatives and the number of votes in the Electoral College, which determines the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, are allocated based on the population of each U.S. state. States with increasing populations will have more representatives in Congress, while states with decreasing or relatively less rapid population increases will lose House seats.
The reallocation of federal House seats means that states that have seen gains or losses in seats will have to redraw their districts. Both parties have used this process in the past to manipulate gerrymandering in order to preserve their party’s victories. In 1812, Governor Jerry of Massachusetts made a district so oddly shaped that it resembled a salamander in order to ensure that his Democratic Party would win, and the term “Jerry Salamander” has since entered the American political lexicon. ” has since entered the American political lexicon.
Republicans, who currently control state legislatures in southern states like Texas and Florida, will redraw districts in their home states, changes that could allow Republicans to pick up enough seats to put the Democrats’ current slim majority in the House of Representatives at risk.
California remains the most populous state in the U.S., according to the data, but for the first time in its history, it will lose a House seat due to population decline.
Overall, the 2020 Census figures show the U.S. population at 331,449,281, an increase of 7.4 percent from 2010. The Census Bureau says this is the second slowest decade of population growth in U.S. history.
The Census Bureau is expected to release more accurate census data by the end of September to reflect population figures at the residential community level, which will be used to redraw state legislative seat boundaries in each state.
The census figures released Monday were four months late because the new coronavirus pandemic delayed the door-to-door survey work conducted by the Census Bureau last year.
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