The BulleTin • Tuesday, april 27, 2021 A5
District
Which states will gain seats in Congress
based on 2020 Census data?
Continued from A1
Gained
Lost
No change
Gov. Kate Brown said the strong turnout in
Oregon to answer the census ensured that Ore-
gon’s voice will be amplified in federal decisions.
Brown released a statement praising the “great
news” of the additional seat.
“Thanks to everyone who participated in the
2020 Census to make sure you were counted,”
Brown said.
Oregon’s new seat was in apportionment, the
+2
reassignment of the 435 congressional seats after
each census.
The census reports Oregon’s 2020 population
Source: Census Bureau
is just under 4.24 million, up from 3.83 million
in 2010.
Oregon’s 10.6% increase was well above the
of State Shemia Fagan, while congressional seats
national population growth of 7.4%, the slowest
would be determined by a special judicial panel.
rate since the 1940 census that came after the
The deadline under that scenario is Oct. 18 to
Great Depression.
complete maps. With legal challenges, the Ore-
Bend had the largest population growth in
gon Supreme Court has set Feb. 7, 2022, as the
Oregon — about 25% — over the past decade.
latest date for maps to be finalized. That leaves
The other largest concentration of growth
one month until the March 8, 2022, deadline for
was the ring of suburbs around Portland, with
candidates to file for the May 17 primary.
Gresham, Troutdale, Sandy, Estacada, Beaver-
If Fagan’s or the judges’ maps are found want-
ton, Tigard, Newberg and St. Helens all posting
ing under legal review, the Oregon Supreme
strong growth.
Court would draw the lines itself.
The sixth congressional dis-
The state House and Senate
“The Legislature’s
trict is the first new seat for Ore-
have redistricting committees
gon since the 1980 census.
will work on the maps. But
majority, governor and that
Five other states received addi-
their makeup is currently politi-
tional seats. Texas gets two more
secretary of state are cally asymmetrical.
seats. Colorado, Florida, Montana,
a deal this month to
all Democrats. More end Under
North Carolina each received one.
a Republican slowdown of
California lost a seat for the
than 50% of the Oregon legislation, House Speaker Tina
first time in state history. It will
Kotek, D-Portland, named Mi-
Supreme Court has
still have the largest delegation,
nority Leader Christine Drazan,
with 52 seats.
as a sixth member of
been appointed by this R-Canby,
Also losing a seat were New
the House panel. The move gives
York, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio,
governor. We are at high the Republicans parity on the
Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
with Democrats.
risk of gerrymandering. committee
In an announcement that has
Drazan said having an equal
political leaders promising to
They have the power, vote on the committee was cru-
take action against the count,
cial given the Democrats’ politi-
but we’ll be able to
New York fell just 89 people short
cal dominance of all facets of the
of keeping all its seats.
process.
question how it is done.” reapportionment
Democrats currently hold
“The Legislature’s majority,
a 218-212 majority in the U.S.
governor and secretary of state
— House Minority Leader
House. Five seats are vacant. Or-
are all Democrats,” Drazan said.
Christine Drazan, R-Canby,
egon currently has four Demo-
“More than 50% of the Oregon
about a recent agreement
crats and one Republican in its
Supreme Court has been ap-
regarding membership on
House delegation.
pointed by this governor. We are
the chamber’s redistricting
Each U.S. House member will
at high risk of gerrymandering.
committee
now represent 761,169 people, up
They have the power, but we’ll be
about 50,000 people from 2010.
able to question how it is done.”
Numbers in each district can vary slightly.
Still up in the air is how the House committee
Still to come is dividing up the districts within will work with the Senate’s, which has retained a
each state. Oregon currently has four Democrats 3-2 Democratic majority and has Sen. Kathleen
and one Republican in the House.
Taylor, D-Milwaukie, as chair.
Oregon is among 33 states where the Legis-
A constitutional quirk allows congressional
lature controls all or most of the process. Eight
candidates to skirt the residency requirements of
states — including California and Washington
most political offices.
— use independent commissions to draw the
The Constitution requires that members of
maps. Two do a mix.
the House be at least 25 years old, have been a
The disruption of the census count amid the
U.S. citizen for at least seven years, and live in
COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted redistrict-
the state they represent, but not the district they
ing in most states.
are running in.
In Oregon, the timelines for the Legislature
The result has led to frequent “district shop-
to receive census data needed to draw congres-
ping” for congressional districts across the coun-
sional and legislative lines that meet civil rights
try, especially by candidates who are squeezed
and voting rights requirements has shifted from out of their seats under reapportionment.
April 1 to late August or September.
One name to take out of the mix for Oregon’s
The delay means the state will blow past most new congressional seat is Brown’s, according
of the established deadlines for creating and ap-
to her longtime political consultant Thomas
proving legislative and congressional maps.
Wheatley. He said Monday after the census an-
The Oregon Supreme Court ruled April 9 that nouncement that Brown is not interested in run-
the Legislature will have until Sept. 27 to submit ning for the seat.
maps for the state House and Senate seats, as
“I don’t even see a crack,” of interest from
well as congressional districts.
Brown, Wheatley said. “She’s got a lot on her
If lawmakers cannot agree on new districts,
plate as it is.”
legislative districts would be drawn by Secretary e e gwarner@eomediagroup.com
NATIONAL BRIEFING
California governor recall
has enough signatures
Organizers of the recall ef-
fort against California Gov.
Gavin Newsom collected
enough valid signatures to
qualify for the ballot, state
election officials said Monday,
likely triggering just the second
such election in state history.
“The people of California
have done what the politicians
thought would be impossible,”
said Orrin Heatlie, the retired
county sheriff’s sergeant who
launched the recall effort last
year. “Our work is just begin-
ning. Now the real campaign is
about to commence.”
Heatlie spearheaded the
signature collection effort
that began last June and then
picked up momentum in the
fall as frustration grew over
Newsom’s coronavirus-related
actions. The California secre-
tary of state’s office said more
than 1.6 million signatures had
been deemed valid as of Mon-
day, about 100,000 more than
required. People who signed
petitions now have 30 days
to withdraw their signatures,
though it’s unlikely enough will
do so to stop the question from
going to voters.
Justice Department opens
probe over Breonna Taylor
The Justice Department is
opening a sweeping probe into
policing in Louisville, Ken-
tucky, over the March 2020
death of Breonna Taylor, who
was shot to death by police
during a raid at her home,
Attorney General Merrick
Young adults relocate — and
reshape political geography
More Americans are
avoiding California
and New York — long
considered desirable —
with implications for
Oregon and other states
BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
AND MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press
Garima Vyas always wanted
to live in a big city. She thought
about New York, long the desti-
nation for 20-something striv-
ers, but was wary of the cost
and complicated subway lines.
So Vyas picked another
metropolis that’s increasingly
become young people’s next-
best option — Houston.
Now 34, Vyas, a tech
worker, has lived in Houston
since 2013. “I knew I didn’t
like New York, so this was the
next best thing,” Vyas said.
“There are a lot of things you
want to try when you are
younger — you want to try
new things. Houston gives
you that, whether it’s food,
people or dating. And it’s
cheap to live in.”
The choices by Vyas and
other members of the millen-
nial generation of where to live
have reshaped the country’s
political geography over the
past decade. They’ve left New
York and California and set-
tled in places less likely to be
settings for TV sitcoms about
20-something urbanites, in-
cluding Denver, Houston and
Orlando, Florida. Drawn by
jobs and overlooked cultural
amenities, they’ve helped add
new craft breweries, condo-
miniums and liberal voters to
these once more-conservative
places.
The 2020 Census confirms
those trends.
The U.S. Census Bureau re-
leased data Monday on U.S.
population shifts, which affect
how congressional seats are
apportioned among the states
every 10 years. Oregon gained
one seat, Texas two; four other
states also gained a seat each;
and other states, mostly in the
north but notably including
California, lost seats.
The relocations have reshuf-
fled politics. Once solidly con-
servative places such as Texas
have seen increasingly large
islands of liberalism sprout
in their cities, driven by the
migration of younger adults,
who lean Democratic. Since
2010, the 20-to-34-year-old
population has increased by
24% in San Antonio, 22% in
Austin and 19% in Houston,
according to an Associated
Press analysis of American
Community Survey data. In
November’s election, two states
that also saw sharp growth in
young people in their largest
cities — Arizona and Georgia
— flipped Democratic in the
presidential contest.
Not just the weather
These demographic win-
ners are almost all in the Sun
Belt, but climate is not the
only thing they have in com-
mon.
“These places are grow-
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP
Demonstrators call for a recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Hun-
tington Beach in November. California is likely headed for its second
recall of a governor in state history.
Garland announced Monday.
It’s the second such probe
into a law enforcement agency
by the Biden administration
in a week; Garland also an-
nounced an investigation into
the tactics of the police in Min-
neapolis following the death
of George Floyd. The attorney
general has said there is not yet
equal justice under the law and
promised to bring a critical
eye to racism and legal issues
when he took the job. Few such
investigations were opened
during the Trump administra-
tion.
The 26-year-old Taylor, an
emergency medical techni-
cian who had been studying
to become a nurse, was roused
from sleep by police who came
through the door using a bat-
tering ram. Her boyfriend,
Kenneth Walker, fired once.
A no-knock warrant was ap-
proved as part of a narcotics
investigation. No drugs were
found at her home.
Supreme Court to take up
right to carry firearms
The Supreme Court agreed
on Monday to hear an appeal to
expand gun rights in the United
States in a New York case over
the right to carry a firearm in
public for self-defense. The case
marks the court’s first foray into
gun rights since Justice Amy
Coney Barrett came on board in
October, making a 6-3 conser-
vative majority.
New York is among eight
states that limit who has the
right to carry a weapon in pub-
lic. The others are California,
Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Jersey and
Rhode Island.
In the rest of the country,
gun owners have little trouble
legally carrying their weapons
when they go out.
Federal courts have largely
upheld New York’s permit lim-
its.
— Bulletin wire reports
David Zalubowski/AP
“This is just a really great place to be,” says Sydney Kramer, a grad-
uate student at the University of Colorado, pictured on campus in
Boulder on Friday. The 23-year-old moved here from Miami to begin
graduate studies in atmospheric and oceanic sciences in January.
ing not just because they’re
warmer — it’s because that’s
where the jobs are and young
people are moving there,” said
Ryan Wiechelt, a geography
professor at the University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
There are other drivers of
population growth, such as
immigration from overseas
and childbirths. But as for-
eign immigration tapered off
during the decade, then plum-
meted during the pandemic,
internal relocations have be-
come an increasingly big factor
in how the country is re-sort-
ing itself, demographers say.
Places with jobs have long
attracted transplants, but this
shift has been different because
housing prices have risen so
much in previous job clusters
— Boston, New York and Sili-
con Valley, for example — that
cost of living has become more
of a factor in relocations, said
Daryl Fairweather, chief econ-
omist for Redfin.
“Since the last housing cri-
sis, young millennials have
had to move to places with re-
ally strong job markets,” Fair-
weather said. “Now, during
the pandemic I think that is
changing — you don’t have to
move to San Francisco if you
want a job in tech.”
Plenty of young people still
move to traditional destina-
tions such as New York and
California to start careers,
experts say. They just leave
them relatively quickly now,
with a wider variety of alter-
native job centers to choose
from. “Every year these places
attract a lot of young people,
but they lose more,” William
Frey, a demographer at the
Brookings Institute, said of
traditional, coastal job mag-
nets, joking that his own
hometown of Washington,
D.C. “rents” young people.
The case for Colorado
Instead, places with both
cheaper housing, growing
economies and recreational
amenities have become pop-
ular. Colorado — which will
gain a seat in Congress, based
on Monday’s data — was the
third-most popular place for
young adults to relocate to
since 2015, gaining more than
20,000 new young adults from
elsewhere each year, accord-
ing to Frey’s analysis of early
census data. The state has
boomed over the past decade
as its libertarian lifestyle, out-
door attractions and growing
knowledge-based economy
have drawn young people
from across the country.
As a result, Denver’s skyline
is regularly pockmarked with
construction cranes. Apart-
ment complexes are spring-
ing up from parking lots. For
when those renters want to
have children and buy homes,
waves of new suburban sub-
divisions are emerging in the
shadow of the Front Range of
the Rocky Mountains.
As mostly college-educated
transplants have relocated to
Denver and its satellite com-
munities, Colorado has gone
from being a solidly Repub-
lican state to a competitive
swing state to a solidly Dem-
ocratic one. It’s a pattern that
some political experts expect
could be replicated in other
states importing loads of
young people, even tradition-
ally conservative Texas.
Sydney Kramer is typical of
many new Colorado arrivals.
The 23-year-old moved to the
university town of Boulder
in January to begin graduate
studies in atmospheric and
oceanic sciences. She could
have stayed in Miami, a nat-
ural location for someone of
her interests and where she
finished her undergraduate
studies. But Kramer was de-
pressed by Florida’s anti-sci-
ence turn under Republican
state control.
“The government and pol-
icy hasn’t necessarily caught
up there yet,” Kramer said of
Florida, noting that state reg-
ulations barred the use of the
term “climate change” in some
official documents under the
previous governor. “Every-
body here has a high level of
education, is really educated
about climate change.”
“This,” she said of Boulder,
with its wealth of environ-
mental and forecasting orga-
nizations, “is just a really great
place to be for my industry.”
A New Jersey native who
did not want to deal with New
York City’s high rents, Kramer
has been impressed by how her
new neighbors talk excitedly
about hiking, camping and ski-
ing and at the combination of
outdoor activities and urban
amenities the area offers. “It’s a
really wonderful place to be for
everything you get for the cost
of living,” she said.