US census hands more House seats to Republican strongholds Texas, Florida
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
US census hands more House seats to Republican strongholds Texas, Florida

World+Biz

Reuters
27 April, 2021, 01:05 pm
Last modified: 27 April, 2021, 02:23 pm

Related News

  • US to suggest tariffs on Russian oil as alternative to embargoes
  • US Air Force says it conducted successful hypersonic weapon test
  • Surging natural gas prices squeeze US industrial sector
  • At least 2 dead, multiple people injured in shooting at a Texas flea market
  • NATO expects Turkey not to hold up Finland, Sweden membership bids

US census hands more House seats to Republican strongholds Texas, Florida

The shift in seats reflects broader population trends that have seen the South and West grow more rapidly than the Northeast and Midwest for decades

Reuters
27 April, 2021, 01:05 pm
Last modified: 27 April, 2021, 02:23 pm
FILE PHOTO: A sign encouraging participation in the U.S. Census lies on a sidewalk in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., August 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sign encouraging participation in the U.S. Census lies on a sidewalk in Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S., August 4, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

Texas, Florida and North Carolina are among the states that will gain congressional seats based on new population data from the US census, a shift that could boost Republican chances of recapturing the US House of Representatives from Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

The overall US population stood at 331,449,281, the Census Bureau said on Monday, a 7.4% increase over 2010 representing the second-slowest growth of any decade in history.

The release of the data, delayed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, sets the stage for a battle over redistricting that could reshape political power in Washington during the next decade. States use the numbers and other census data to redraw electoral maps based on where people have moved.

Under the US Constitution, the 435 seats in the House and the votes in the Electoral College that select the president every four years are divided among the 50 states based on population, with every state receiving at least one congressional seat.

The seats are reallocated every 10 years following the decennial census count.

The shift in seats reflects broader population trends that have seen the South and West grow more rapidly than the Northeast and Midwest for decades.

Texas will receive two more congressional seats next year, and five states - Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Montana and Oregon - will gain one congressional seat each, the census bureau said.

New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will each lose one seat. California, the most populous US state, lost a congressional seat for the first time in its 170-year history.

The reapportionment can come down to razor-thin margins. If New York had 89 more people in the census count, for instance, it would have kept its seat at the expense of Minnesota, officials said.

The gains for states such as Texas, North Carolina and Florida, where Republicans control the legislatures, could be enough to erase Democrats' currentnarrow majority in the House. Republicans in those three states have in the past engaged in aggressive gerrymandering, the practice by which maps are deliberately redrawn to benefit one party over another.

"I'd expect, just from reapportionment, the Republicans to win a few seats," said Kyle Kondik, an election analyst at the University of Virginia. Republicans only need to flip five seats in 2022 to retake the House.

Every state uses the census data to redraw lines both for districts and thousands of state legislative seats in a process known as redistricting.

That work cannot be completed until the census releases more precise block-by-block data, which is slated for September. The delay has raised concerns that states will be forced to rush through the complicated process of redistricting ahead of the next elections.

The US Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that federal courts have no power to restrict political gerrymandering, although racial gerrymandering - which aims to curb the political power of specific racial or ethnic groups - remains unlawful.

The four most populous US states - Texas, Florida and New York, along with California - have more than 110 million residents combined and will hold about one-third of the House seats.

The shift of seven seats among 13 states was the smallest number of seats moving among states in any decade since the current method of calculating them was adopted in 1941, officials said.

Slow Growth

Overall, the US population grew more slowly from 2010 to 2020 than in every other decade aside from the 1930s, during the Great Depression, census officials said.

Population growth has slowed as the birth rate has declined, while the "baby boomer" post-World War Two generation has aged. In addition, immigration sharply decreased due to the hardline policies of the Trump administration.

Utah's population grew faster than any other state's, increasing by more than 18% since 2010. Only three states lost population: West Virginia, which saw its population decrease by 3.2%, followed byIllinois and Mississippi, which dropped by 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.

Washington, DC, the nation's capital, grew by 14.6% to a population of 689,545. House Democrats have passed legislation to admit the district as the 51st state, but Republicans oppose the measure.

The territory of Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, has seen its population decrease by 11.8% since 2010.

Wyoming remains the least populated state, with 576,851 residents.

Top News / Politics

US republicans / US Republican Party / Florida / Texas / US / North Carolina / US census / US House of Representatives

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
    Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
  • RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike
    RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike
  • A packet of US five-dollar bills is inspected at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington March 26, 2015. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
    Dollar hits Tk100 mark in open market

MOST VIEWED

  • Service members of pro-Russian troops, including fighters of the Chechen special forces unit, stand in front of the destroyed administration building of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Chingis Kondarov
    Azovstal siege ends as hundreds of Ukrainian fighters surrender
  • French President Emmanuel Macron gives a news conference at the end of a special meeting of the European Council in light of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, in Brussels, Belgium, February 25, 2022. Photo :Reuters
    Macron urges rapid Israeli probe into death of Al Jazeera reporter
  • Emergency personnel work near a building damaged after a military strike, in Odesa, Ukraine, in this handout image released May 9, 2022. State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
    G7 finance ministers plan 15 billion euros aid for Ukraine
  • North Korea Covid outbreak is 'worrying' for new variants -WHO
    North Korea Covid outbreak is 'worrying' for new variants -WHO
  • Women take part in a pro-abortion rights demonstration to mark International Safe Abortion Day, in Madrid, Spain on 28 September 2021. Photo: Reuters
    In Europe's first, Spain aims to introduce paid menstrual leave
  • Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and the Moderate Party's leader Ulf Kristersson (not pictured) hold a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden on 16 May 2022. TT News Agency/Henrik Montgomery via
    Sweden and Finland to hand in NATO applications on Wednesday, Swedish PM says

Related News

  • US to suggest tariffs on Russian oil as alternative to embargoes
  • US Air Force says it conducted successful hypersonic weapon test
  • Surging natural gas prices squeeze US industrial sector
  • At least 2 dead, multiple people injured in shooting at a Texas flea market
  • NATO expects Turkey not to hold up Finland, Sweden membership bids

Features

Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

20h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

21h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

21h | Habitat
Pcycle team members at a waste management orientation event. Photo: Courtesy

Pcycle: Turning waste from bins into beautiful crafts

23h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

After six decades ,the Archies is back

After six decades ,the Archies is back

12h | Videos
Exporters in discomfort, expatriates preferring Hundi

Exporters in discomfort, expatriates preferring Hundi

12h | Videos
The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

12h | Videos
Can your coworker be your closest friend?

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

22h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

5
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

6
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab