New York”™s population grew by 4.2% and Connecticut”™s expanded by 0.9% in 2020, according to figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, New York will be losing a congressional district based on the census data while Connecticut”™s congressional delegation remains unchanged.
New York is one of seven states ”“ along with California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia ”“ that will each lose a seat in the House of Representatives based on the new census data. The states will also see their Electoral College votes change for the 2024 presidential election. The state will shrink from 27 to 26 House seats for the 2022 election. The Census Bureau will provide more detailed data in the fall to assist the state legislatures in mapping the changes of their congressional representation.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded to the news by raising the possibility of a legal response to contest the census data, which showed that the state came up 89 residents short of keeping its congressional seat.
“Do I think it was accurate to within 89? No, and we”™re looking at legal options,” Cuomo said at a press conference Tuesday.
Six states with significant population gains will gain new congressional seats: Texas will add two seats while Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Oregon will gain one seat.
New York”™s population as of the end of 2020 was 20.2 million, up by 823,147 residents from 2010, while Connecticut totaled 3.6 million, up by 31,847 over the decade.
The 2020 census determined the U.S. population is now at 331,449,281, a 7.4% increase from the 2010 census. However, this represented the second-slowest population increase in the history of the census.
