North Carolina gains seat in Congress after census results released
North Carolina will gain a 14th seat in Congress, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Monday.
The U.S. Census Bureau released the results of the 2020 Census Monday afternoon.
North Carolina gained one seat.
The U.S. Census Bureau said the population of the United States is 331,449,281. Because of this new information, North Carolina was one of six states to gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The state gained 1 million residents over the last decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The new seat could represent either the Charlotte area or the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, but for now, no one knows.
The Census Bureau said North Carolina’s resident population was 10,439,388 as of April 1, 2020, up 9.5% from the 9,535,483 people counted as living in the state a decade earlier. It remains the nation’s ninth-largest state.
Estimated population growth over the past 10 years has been concentrated in Wake and Mecklenburg counties, both of which had more than 1.1 million people in the bureau’s 2019 population estimates.
The population distribution data needed for redistricting won’t be available until late summer or fall. But based on estimated population growth, Tippett said a 14th seat would likely be drawn in an urban or suburban area within the Piedmont crescent — an area stretching from Charlotte north and east to Greensboro and Raleigh.
The region’s population growth has far outpaced rural and eastern North Carolina, which could see their influence decline.
Republicans currently hold eight of the state’s 13 U.S. House seats. Democrats gained two seats during the 2020 elections — a shift largely attributed to the results of redistricting litigation.
The General Assembly redrew the congressional map in late 2019 because state judges declared that it likely included unlawful partisan gerrymanders favoring the GOP. The new boundaries shifted Greensboro-area and Raleigh-area districts to seats favoring Democrats. Now the state House and Senate — still in Republican control — will redraw the map again.
Redistricting maps aren’t subject to a veto by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. But any map approved by the legislature is likely to be challenged in court by other Democrats, whether on partisan or racial grounds.
The other states to gain seats are Texas, Florida, Montana, Colorado and Oregon.
California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia lost seats based on the data, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The South outpaced the national average of growth. Its population numbers are up more than 10%, while the nation's average was 7%. That's the American population's second-slowest rate of growth.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.