legislatures are the ones drawing up the boundaries.  The complaint is that the census has not counted minorities correctly and conservatives don't want them counted accurately.  They believe that it will shift too many states toward the Democrats.  Tom DeLay got himself in big trouble in Texas after the last census and this census will see many more people from outside the area move into the last bastion of red-state supremacy.

Reapportionment to benefit Sun Belt

Thursday 25 December 2008

by: Reid Wilson, The Hill

(Photo: www.census.gov)

   

 

 The country's population center continues to shift south, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and congressional districts will follow after the 2012 reapportionment.

    The new figures suggest that Texas will be the big winner following the nationwide census in 2010 and the attending decennial reapportionment process. The Lone Star State, fueled by explosive growth in its Hispanic population and an influx of transplants from other states, is projected to pick up as many as three congressional seats, according to a report compiled by Election Data Services, Inc.

    Fiv e other states, all in the Sun Belt, are projected to gain one House seat each, including Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Georgia. Southern and Western states have continuously grown at a much faster pace than those in the Midwest, Rust Belt and Northeast.

    Sta tes set to lose a seat are largely in the industrial swath of the country, areas that have traditionally lost seats over the last several reapportionments. Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have all lost seats in recent population estimates. New Jersey and Iowa, both beset by economies that have grown slower than other states in the past decade, are also projected to lose a seat.

    Lou isiana, which lost thousands of residents in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is the only state south of the Mason-Dixon Line projected to lose a member of Congress.

    Rec ent trends have caused census-watchers to reassess projections from earlier this decade. Population growth rates have slowed considerably in Texas and Arizona, enough so that estimators have projected each will win one fewer seat after 2012 than many had expected.

    Pop ulation growth had increased sufficiently in both Ohio and Missouri to save seats in those states; the Buckeye State was expected to lose two seats in four years, while Show-Me Staters had been slated to drop one of their nine seats.

    EDS projections suggest population movements could still cause shifts before census-takers hit the streets in 2010. Long-term trends beginning in 2000 suggest that states in the Pacific Northwest - Oregon and Washington - are just a few thousand new residents away from winning new seats, while South Carolina would win a seventh seat in Congress.

 

by gatekeeper50 on 02/14/2009 03:08:25 PM EST

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