By Kathy Kinsella
The New York Congressional Delegation will most likely lose one seat in upcoming redistricting, possibly two, due to changing population trends reported in the 2010 Census. This reduction would take effect 2013 and would bring the NY delegation to its lowest number since 1810. New York State currently has 29 House seats. That is down two seats from re-redistricting after the 1990 Census. This trend means New Yorkers voice in national and international politics is diminishing.
The House of Representatives allocates representatives to each state according to the size of its population. States with growing populations, southern and western sates, are becoming stronger voices. Other northeast states that are projected to lose House seats are NJ, PA, and Ohio. Texas stands to gain three seats, this on the heels of having gained three seats following the previous census.
The total number of House seats is capped by law at 435. Each state starts with one representative and the remaining 385 seats are doled out by an apportionment formula . As states grow and earn seats, they effectively draw them away from those that have lost population, or grown more slowly. This increasingly shifts he balance of power to regions with more conservative voting trends and leaving New York and its neighbors with less representation.