Five states that voted for President Joe Biden in the November presidential election will lose seats in the House when congressional maps are redrawn later this year, but will pick up two seats in other states, according to Axios, citing newly released census data.
California, the nation’s most populous state will lose one seat for the first time in its history. Other states Biden carried including Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania will also lose one seat.
Colorado and Oregon, both states Biden carried in the November election will gain one seat each.
Only two states that voted for Trump –Ohio and West Virginia–will lose a seat.
Florida, Montana and North Carolina will all pick up one seat each while another state Trump carried, Texas will pick up two.
Brookings Institution demographer William Frey told Axios that shift can be attributed to people moving out of more Democratic-leaning states like California to other states like Texas.
So, “politically, many of these Electoral College-seat gaining states may be trending ‘bluer’ politically because of the movement into them from Democratic-leaning states,” he said.
Census data is used to draw new electoral districts in states that will determine control of the House in 2022 and for the rest of the decade.
Democrats are bracing for a Republican friendly map since Republicans control the congressional redistricting process in 18 states as opposed to seven for the Democrats, according to the Brennan Center.
