Illinois is losing 1 House set and electoral vote. Acting Director Ron Jarmin said that Illinois along with California, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will each lose a house seat and an electoral college vote based on the first population data from the 2020 Census data.
Texas, Florida, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, and Oregon each gained seats. Associate Director of Demographics Victoria Velkoff said that most states were within 1% of their population estimates. She says that gives census experts confidence in the counts that were taken last year, despite being disrupted by the pandemic.
US Census Chief of the Population Division Karen Battle attributes Illinois’ loss as a part of out-migration – more people moving out of the state than into it.
Senior Technical Expert for Apportionment Kristin Kolsap said that Illinois wasn’t as close to losing a 2nd seat and vote as many had previously believed.
The apportionment census tables will not include population or housing counts for specific counties, cities, or towns. These numbers are expected to be released in subsequent weeks.
Illinois currently has 18 Congressional seats and Electoral Votes. Of Illinois’ current House members, 13 are Democrats and five are Republicans. Reapportionment is the step that takes place before a remap — that is, drawing new congressional district lines based on the latest census data, which is currently under debate in the Illinois General Assembly.
Each state gets at least one seat; after that the remaining 385 seats are distributed according to population, with the aim to have about the same number of people in each district. This system has been in place since the first federal census in 1790.