All I Want For 2022 Is A New Congressional District
It’s no surprise that Georgia is growing. Businesses are moving here, jobs are being created, and new neighborhoods are popping up around the Atlanta metro area. The Chattanooga Times-Free Press has an article that outlays the growth in our state and compares to others and the nation.
Georgia’s has grown by 6.4%, meaning an additional 621,691 moved to the state, over the past six years. Of that, 110,973 came to Georgia between 2015 and 2016 which pegs us at #7 for population growth in the United States.
The national trend continues with Sun Belt states like Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona gaining population and northern states like Pennsylvania and New York losing population.
There is a good chance that Georgia could gain an additional seat (or two!) in Congress. Where would those new seats be? I’ll take a SWAG and say that one would be around the metro area, but it’s possible that two could be around the metro area if booming growth continues in the metro area.
It’s only 2016 (closer to 2017, really), so we’re still about 4 or 5 years away from hearing if Georgia will be getting any new congressional seats after the 2020 Census is tabulated. Of course, it’s never too early to speculate.
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Georgia’s growth slowed after the crash, commensurate with our economy also slowing down below the national average.
It appears that Georgia is not only back to growing again at a healthy rate (generally 4th fastest growth in country), but the rate of growth is actually increasing. As such, trends would indicate we’re a lock for at least one new seat. Two are not out of the question. We’re talking about 1 Million+ new Georgians over this decade.
As for “where it goes”, having lived through several bouts of redistricting, it never seems to be the way one would expect. That said, the growth has been largely north of I-20 (with coastal Georgia also joining in the party). Expect GA-1 to become more compact. After that, North Georgia in general will have more representation. How that looks….too soon to worry about shapes and sizes.