Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau has revealed that the state’s population growth will result in two new U.S. House seats.
The information has the opportunity to help shape the fortunes of control of the U.S. House in the 2022 elections and well beyond as lawmakers are expected to draw on the data to redraw voting districts as early as this fall.
That data is the foundation to help redraw 429 U.S. House districts in 44 states and 7,383 state legislative districts across the country with the objective of confirming that each district has approximately the same number of people.
Gerrymandering, or manipulating voting boundaries, will be implemented by both parties as a means to try and get the upper hand in future elections.
Three Texas metros contributed largely to the state’s growth, with Houston, Dallas and Austin contributing to the seat expansion in Texas.
Currently, Texas Republicans hold 23 of the 36 U.S. House seats and the party would need to gain just five seats to take control of the U.S. House in the 2022 elections, which could be made easier through meticulous redistricting.
David Wasserman, an analyst for congressional races at The Cook Political Report, said that even the most minuscule changes could have drastic consequences.
“Redistricting really is the ballgame this cycle in the House,” Wasserman said. “Even tiny changes to district lines could have huge implications that tip the balance of power in the House.”
The U.S. Census data also showed that the country is diversifying and that the white population is shrinking, with the Asian and Hispanic populations experiencing unprecedented growth.
“If not for Hispanics, Asians, people of two or more races, those are the only groups underage that are growing,” said William Frey, a senior fellow at Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program. “A lot of these young minorities are important for our future growth, not only for the child population but for our future labor force.”