Conservative fiefdoms in the U.S. South get bigger in 2020 census

People walking down a street in New York on Monday.Mark Lennihan / AP

The political weight of the southern states of the United States is greater than 10 years ago, according to what the first figures of the 2020 census revealed this Monday. Conservative fiefdoms such as Texas, North Carolina or Florida - it is considered pendular territory, but it voted to Donald Trump both times - they will have more seats in Congress due to the increase in their population in the last decade. The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members, so when the number of legislators increases in one state, they decrease in others. Among the territories that have lost a seat are New York and California. The latter will see its representativeness decrease for the first time in 170 years of status due to the slowdown in migration.

The Census Bureau has revealed that the US population reaches 331,449,281 citizens, an increase of 7.4% over the last decade. This growth is the lowest since 1930 and the second lowest in the country's history. In addition to the reallocation of seats in Congress, these numbers kickstart the battles between Democrats and Republicans over redistricting. Information such as ethnicity, gender and housing will be released by the end of the year. Donald Trump led a crusade to include the question on citizenship, but the Supreme Court ruled against the Republican's claim, considering that the arguments for obtaining that information were "forced."

Quantitative data along with more detailed data will be used by state legislatures or independent panels to redraw political maps.

Texas, with four million new residents, was the best state, with two new seats in the House of Representatives.

Florida, Montana, North Carolina, all Republicans, got an extra one.

Oregon and Colorado, Democrats, also added one.

States that lost seats included Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and California.

All with Democratic governors where President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election.

The most populous state in the country is still California, a symbol of growth since the 19th century.

In the last decade it added 2.3 million inhabitants, an increase of 6.1%, but lost a seat in Congress because other states exceeded that percentage of expansion.

With this, California legislators will go from 53 to 52 in the House of Representatives.

The fall that did not surprise experts was New York.

The question was whether he would lose one or two seats in Congress.

The Census Bureau reported that the progressive territory lost only one, by just 89 people, leaving 26 legislators.

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