Report: Pennsylvania Likely to Lose Congressional Seat in 2020
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A new report predicts that Pennsylvania could lose at least one congressional seat in 2020.
The report from Election Data Services, a Virginia-based political consulting firm, said Pennsylvania is one of nine states that could lose a congressional seat because of population loss.
The 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned every 10 years, following the decennial census. Pennsylvania was one of 10 states that lost at least one seat in 2010.
The report also lists New York, Ohio, Michigan, Rhode Island and Illinois as states that may lose at least one seat. States like Texas, Florida and Arizona are expected to gain congressional seats, according to the report’s findings, which correlate with a projected shift in political power from states in the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West.
Pennsylvania experienced its first population loss in 31 years between 2015 and 2016, when the state lost 7,677 residents, according to an analysis of census data by the Inquirer. Throughout the last century, Pennsylvania has gone from holding 36 congressional seats to holding 18. Of the state’s 18 seats, 13 are held by Republicans.
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