Search results
May 10, 2021 · by: Bailey Brautigan. Posted: May 10, 2021 / 12:27 PM EDT. Updated: May 10, 2021 / 05:37 PM EDT. CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK)—On Monday, West Virginia received official notice that the state would lose one of its three congressional seats, WV Secretary of State Mac Warner said in a media release.
- Overview
- Redistricting
- What's at stake
Several southern and western states will be seeing an increase in their political clout in the House of Representatives, according to the first results from the Census Bureau's decennial survey.
The bureau released its apportionment counts Monday, as well as the total population for each state, according to the 2020 Census. Apportionment determines which states gain or lose congressional districts based on their total population.
The counts also set each state's share of votes in the Electoral College, which is determined by the number of representatives in their congressional delegation.
Population growth in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Oregon, Montana and Colorado will result in added congressional seats to these delegations. The new seats in these states will be offset by the loss of seats in New York, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan and West Virginia — all states that experienced static growth or population losses.
Texas' congressional delegation will increase from 36 to 38 seats, North Carolina will add a 14th district, and Montana is going to have more than one Congressional seat for the first time since 1993.
Illinois and Pennsylvania will lose a congressional district for the fifth straight Census. California will lose a congressional district for the first time in its history, though it still has more than any state, with 52 districts. New York barely ended up losing a congressional district — with just 89 more residents, it would have held onto the district it lost.
The Bureau's release of apportionment data marks the first official step for redistricting: redrawing of lines for congressional, state legislative and other local government voting districts.
Twenty-five states utilize an independent, bipartisan commission to draw their maps, or have split chambers of legislatures in charge. In eighteen states, Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and will redraw the maps. Democrats control the process in seven states, the Brennan Center's Michael Li noted in a recent report.
When a party has unilateral control of the process, it is more likely to engage in the practice of drawing districts that are politically advantageous, otherwise known as "gerrymandering."
Li writes that states under single-party political control that have seen demographic change, such as Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, are at the "highest-risk" for gerrymandering.
North Carolina had to redraw its congressional and state legislative districts in 2019, after a panel of three judges ruled it was "beyond a reasonable doubt" that past districts were "extreme partisan gerrymanders" that benefitted Republicans.
But two Supreme Court cases in the past decade have also changed the guardrails for gerrymandering.
With a slim Democratic majority in the House, Republicans have pointed to the legislative majorities they have in states that'll add seats, as a key to flipping the chamber.
Monday's apportionment count did not include as many added seats in Arizona, Texas and Florida, or the loss of seats in Rhode Island and Minnesota that some Democratic and Republican groups were expecting.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, led by Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, warned that Republican state legislators who have pushed for laws he called "anti-voter" would try to increase safe GOP seats and decrease the number of districts where Democrats can compete, "hoping to manufacture an illegitimate majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 and beyond." He vowed that the NRDC would "do everything in our power to ensure the voices of the people are not silenced by bad maps."
Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, said the numbers showed "a wash as far as redistricting control is concerned."
"It's really a lot of changes on the margins. But I would be remiss without acknowledging that these numbers are off from what our expectations were and what others' expectations were by a little bit," Kincaid told reporters Monday. "Seven seats moving from one seat to the other is less than we've seen for decades.
The upcoming redistricting process could also force some incumbents to run in more politically competitive districts, or try for statewide offices. Democrat Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan launched his Senate campaign Monday, the same day it was revealed his state would lose a congressional seat.
- Digital Reporter
- 30 sec
People also ask
Will West Virginia lose one of its three congressional seats?
Who sets state legislative and congressional boundaries in West Virginia?
When did West Virginia enact a congressional district map?
Do West Virginia Senate districts have to be bounded by county lines?
Apr 26, 2021 · Lastly, we know for sure that Republicans will be the ones to lose a seat in West Virginia. All three current members of Congress from the Mountain State belong to the GOP, so at least one out of...
Apr 26, 2021 · News. What West Virginia’s population loss means for the state’s future. by Douglas Soule April 26th, 2021. Photo courtesy U.S. Census Bureau. The first round of 2020 U.S. Census data is in, and as expected, West Virginia has lost more residents and another congressional seat. There are 1,793,716 people living in the Mountain State.
Apr 26, 2021 · By Cuneyt Dil. Published 1:03 PM PDT, April 26, 2021. CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia’s long population slide has cost the state another congressional seat, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Monday, likely forcing three Republican incumbents to vie for two House districts after the next round of redistricting.
Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed the congressional district map into law on October 22, 2021. [3] . This map took effect for West Virginia's 2022 congressional elections. West Virginia enacted district maps for the Senate and House of Delegates on October 22, 2021. [4] .
Apr 26, 2021 · Apr 26, 2021. 0. 2 min to read. 1 of 2. West Virginia is one of seven states that is losing a seat in the House of Representatives due to the reapportionment following the 2020 Census. Five other states gained a seat, while Texas gained two. U.S. Census Bureau.
