Population growth could position Oregon to add congressional seat

[think]

Population growth could position Oregon to add congressional seat

By Elliot Njus | The Oregonian/OregonLive
on December 21, 2016 at 12:56 PM, updated December 21, 2016 at 1:54 PM

Oregon's super-charged growth, with new residents arriving at a rate not seen since the 1990s, could boost its chances to add a congressional seat in 2020.

The Census Bureau said Tuesday that Oregon had grown by 1.71 percent in the past year, making it the sixth-fastest-growing state by percentage. Its 69,000 new residents also make it the ninth-fastest-growing state in absolute numbers.

A report from Virginia-based Election Data Services Inc. says Oregon is on track for another congressional seat, joining Florida, North Carolina and Texas.

Going from five to six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, along with Oregon's two seats in the U.S. Senate, would also give the Democratic-leaning state slightly more weight in presidential contests.

Oregon would move from seven electoral votes to eight, although experts say that gain would likely be offset by growth in Republican states....


Read more:
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/12/population_growth_could_positi.html

[classof56]

1. Oh, dang! We shoulda stopped 'em at the border, I tells ya!

Sorry--old joke. If an additional congressional seat would result in me not residing in Greg Walden's district, I'd say go for it, but given the political mentality over here East of the Cascades, it's highly unlikely a non-Republican would ever be elected in these parts. A goodly number of voters think Timothy McVeigh and Ammon Bundy are heroes, and there was an abundance of Trump/Pence signs posted prior to the election, as well. Now, if the additional congressional seat was along the I-5 corridor, I'd be inclined to say it could be a positive move, though as the article stated, the gain would likely be offset by growth in Republican states. Plus, since it wouldn't happen until 2020, I can't get too excited about it. Frankly, I'm having a problem contemplating the future under the new "administration" much beyond next April.

[No Vested Interest]

2. So, which four states are likely to lose the congressional seats that Oregon,

Florida, NC, and Texas will gain?
I wouldn't mind if Wisconsin, Michigan, and PA were among the losers.