Political Power Shifts: Red States’ Big Gains As Census Shifts House Seats

Posted On April 29, 2021

Texas Gets Most New House Seats, California Loses for First Time

Red states have gained five of the seven new seats in Congress, after a reapportionment based on the 2020 Census.

Texas has gained two seats, while North Carolina, Florida, and Montana gained one seat. Oregon and Colorado also gained one seat.

California, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia all lost one seat.

The Wall Street Journal reports: Census Shows South and Mountain West Gain Political Power From Population Growth

Political power in the U.S. will shift further to states in the South and Mountain West—with Texas picking up two House seats and California losing one—as the country’s overall population growth slowed to the lowest rate since the Great Depression, the Census Bureau said Monday. The changes are expected to favor Republicans because red-leaning states are gaining more seats on net, and because the GOP has more control in redrawing the new congressional maps.

From reporter Kristina Peterson:

The raw data that states need to draw new House districts won’t come out until this summer, but the jockeying over where new lines will be drawn will start sooner than that. And although Republicans enter with an advantage, they will feel the pain in states like West Virginia, where the all-GOP delegation is losing a seat. One dynamic to watch is whether the growth in bipartisan commissions drawing districts results in more maps that both parties view as fair.

Thirteen states will gain or lose seats in the House of Representatives in next year’s elections through the once-a-decade reapportionment required by the Constitution. They will also lose or gain votes in the Electoral College beginning in 2024.

Besides the double gain for Texas, five states will gain one seat each: Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon. Seven states will lose one each: California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The allocation is based on a formula set in a 1941 law.

This article originally appeared here and is republished with permission.