Texas' Population Growth Will Lead To 3 New Congressional Districts
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Texas' booming population will likely lead to three new Congressional districts in the state.
During a virtual hearing Wednesday, Jan. 27, of the State Senate's Special Committee on Redistricting, the state's demographer, Lloyd Potter, said the 2020 Census results should expand the number of Congressional districts from 36 to 39.
That will give Texas residents more clout in Washington, D.C. in two ways:
It will provide more members of Congress from Texas voting on issues and will mean more tax dollars will flow back to Texas.
During the hearing, Dr. Potter displayed maps showing population growth in the North Texas region, which has increased dramatically, along with the population in and around Texas' other large cities.
State lawmakers will use results of the 2020 Census to redraw Congressional and Texas House and Senate districts.
For now, the state has a population estimate from this past July of more than 29.3 million residents.
That's an increase of nearly 17% or more than 4.2 million people during the past ten years.
Dr. Potter said during the past decade, more than half of the state's population increase came in the Latino community, and that by late 2021 or early 2022, there will be about the same number of Latino residents in Texas as white residents.
He said the African-American population grew by about 15%, while the Asian-American population grew by about 13% during that same time period.
During the hearing, some Dallas residents complained about the current Congressional maps, including the 5th Congressional District which extends from East Dallas to more rural areas southeast of the city.
The 2020 census results are delayed because of the pandemic.
Because the state is getting the information later, some state lawmakers have said they expect the state legislature will need to have a special session to redraw all the congressional and legislative maps.
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