New population projections show 7 seats will be moved from one state to another
Election Data Services reports on its website: New Census Population Estimates document for the first time the significant loss of population in Louisiana due to the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe. The loss of population will also lead to a loss of representation in Congress, according to a study by Election Data Services Inc. that was released today. Louisiana is now projected to lose a congressional seat, based on the new data.
The 2006 population estimates shift two more seats between four states, compared to last year’s study of the 2005 estimates (see Election Data Services Inc., “Five States Would Gain Seats if Congress Were Reapportioned with 2005 Population Estimates,” December 22, 2005). “Changes affecting three of the four new states were expected,” noted Election Data Services’ president, Kimball Brace, “but Louisiana’s loss was a new twist in the numbers.”
Overall, the 2006 estimates show that seven congressional seats in 13 states have already changed at this point in the decade, if the U.S. House of Representatives was reapportioned with the updated numbers. Six states—Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Utah—would each gain a seat and Texas would gain two seats if the House was reapportioned with census population estimates for July 1, 2006, according to Election Data Services’ analysis. Seven states would lose seats—Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The states of Georgia, Nevada, Louisiana, and Massachusetts are new states on the list of changes, compared to the 2005 study. --