Oregon to gain additional Congressional seat, Electoral College vote

Posted May 2021

By Tristan Hansen

Staff Reporter

Following the results of the 2020 U.S. Census, Oregon will gain an additional Electoral College vote and seat in the House of Representatives.

The U.S. Census is a constitutionally mandated program, occurring every ten years, in which the population of the country and each individual state and locality is meticulously and procedurally calculated. The census has many purposes, such as being used to determine the apportionment of federal funding, coordinate military and infrastructure planning, and enable economic analysis. But perhaps its most important and well-known role is its use in determining the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the United States Congress.

To calculate the number of seats each state receives, the Census Bureau uses a mathematical formula, entitled the “Method of Equal Proportions” to compute each states’ “priority values,” and then awards seats based on the order of these values. The apportionment results recently announced following the completion of the 2020 Census reveal that six states will be gaining seats, while seven will be losing them. California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York will all be losing one seat each, while Montana, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Oregon will all be gaining seats, with Texas receiving two and all others gaining one.

Last year’s Census was one of historically narrow margins, with certain states holding onto—or losing—their seats by the skin of their teeth. For example, the state of New York lost one of its seats in the House of Representatives by a mere 89 people, while Minnesota held onto one of its seats by 26 people—by far the lowest margins by which a state has either lost or avoided losing seats in history. Much of the process was embroiled in controversy and dispute as well, with former President Donald Trump’s administration making repeated efforts to collect data on immigration status and eventually exclude undocumented immigrants from the count. After months of contentious debate and legal challenges, the saga was finally ended by one of Biden’s first executive orders as president, requiring that non-citizens be included in the 2020 Census’ official population counts.

Oregon’s new seat in the House of Representatives, preceded by years of robust population growth, represents its first such gain in 40 years. Going forward, Oregon will now have six seats in the House of Representatives and slightly greater influence in determining the outcome of the presidential election, given that each states’ number of electoral votes is determined by the size of its congressional delegation. But first, it will be required to redraw the boundaries of its congressional districts. This is often a contentious process in which both sides vie for power in an attempt to influence it in their favor and optimize their chance of winning seats, a phenomenon known as Gerrymandering. This scenario may be averted due to a recent deal struck between Democrats and Republicans in the state legislature. In exchange for House Republicans committing to refrain from using delay tactics to block Democratic legislation, House Democrats have provided House Republicans equal representation in the House Redistricting Committee.

“Now that we have equal representation on the redistricting committee, our legislative and congressional districts will be drawn in a way that avoids political gerrymandering,” Oregon state House Minority Leader Christine Drazan stated. “Our current maps have favored one political party over another for the past 20 years, but Oregonians can be confident that this sixth congressional district will be drawn according to the rules to give people fair representation.”

This arrangement could create problems of its own, however. Given that a party line vote would no longer be sufficient for a redistricting map to successfully pass through the committee, a stalemate could very well arise. This would result in the redistricting responsibilities being relegated to a panel of judges, a process that has never been tested before.

Oregon’s current members of the U.S. House of Representatives include Democrats Kurt Schrader, Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, and Suzanne Bonamici, and Republican Cliff Bentz. It’s predicted that, once the boundaries are determined, Oregon’s 6th congressional district will likely lean red, although nothing is yet known for certain.