The US Census Bureau announced Monday that the total population of the United States has topped 331 million people, marking the country’s second slowest population growth rate in US history. Amid that, Texas will gain two seats in the redistricting process, the results found.Additionally, Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon will each gain one seat in Congress.California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will all lose congressional seats ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
The results — which show that political power in the country is shifting from states in the Midwest and Northeast to those in the South and West — will have wide-ranging impacts on numerous aspects of American life, ranging from each state’s representation in Congress to the amount of money each state will get from the federal government. The numbers could shift the political makeup of Congress and set up what will likely be contentious redistricting battles in the coming months.
And the numbers reflect which states are growing in both population and power. With Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Texas all gaining seats — and thus, electoral votes — their political clout will grow over the next decade, largely at the expense of states like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.The new numbers represented a decrease in the population growth rate when compared to growth between 2000 and 2010. It was only slightly more than the growth rate seen during the 1930s.
