Population Changes Mean Changes in Triangle GA Districts

Population Changes Mean Changes in Triangle GA Districts

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The Historic Triangle will see changes in its General Assembly and U.S. congressional districts due to population changes based on recently released census data.

In the Virginia General Assembly, districts are drawn to have roughly equal population numbers. When the census figures come in, a new target population number is set and districts which are under or over that target will need to be realigned.

According to interactive maps on the Virginia Public Access Project’s redistricting webpage, the Triangle’s four state house districts and one senate district aren't in line with the new population targets.

The state House target population is now 80,010 people. In Del. Brenda Pogge’s 96th district, the population is over that number by 10,790, or 13.5 percent, according to VPAP. In Robin Abbott’s 93rd district, the population is 6,806 below target, or 8.5 percent. Bill Barlow’s 64th district is over by 3,930, or 4.9 percent, and the currently unrepresented 91st district is under target by 15,936 residents, or nearly 20 percent.

In the state Senate, the new target population per district is 200,026. Sen. Tommy Norment’s 3rd district has 11,697 more residents than the ideal, or 5.8 percent.

US Congressional Districts are also based on population. The new target based on the VPAP maps is 727,366, which puts Congressman Rob Wittman’s 1st district 58,871 people over.

The primaries have been shifted to a later date, from June to August 23, to give the general Assembly and local governments time to redraw their districts.

Follow updates on the process on the VPAP website.

Comments

0 #1 Guest 2011-02-09 22:27

I respectfully suggest that Voters in James City County, York County, and Williamsburg apprise themselves of the Redistricting process. This will involve a sophisticated political shell game that will affect our people. The end results will impact on all residents within each jurisdiction. Keeping desired "quota" numbers in place will involve a confusing arrangement of numbers and related demographic consideration. In this process, the realistic world of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and other political parties will have to face an emerging group of active aggressive Conservative folks. In any event, that's politics ! To those of you with a good sense of humor, during the next election remember to vote-----and vote often ???? Best wishes and thank you.
Frank G Tsutras, James City County Voter.

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