So Many Resident Have Fled New York and California States May Lose House Seats, Electoral College Votes

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So many residents have fled New York and California that they are in danger of losing representation in Congress and along with it Electoral College votes.

“This is a real sea change in California, which used to be [in] this state of pretty robust population growth,” said Hans Johnson, a demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California. “It hasn’t been for some time now. But it’s now gotten to the point where the state is essentially not growing population-wise at all.”

Johnson says the decrease could cause California to lose a seat in Congress as well as an Electoral College vote for the first time. The state did not gain any seats following the 2010 census, which was also a first.

California’s drop in population was outpaced only by New York state, which saw more residents flee the state than any other state in the nation.

Some 126,355 people escaped the Empire State between July 2019 and July 2020, a drop of 0.65%. If the numbers hold, New York could lose one congressional seat, dropping it to 26.

High taxes, spikes in crime and draconian Covid19-lockdown policies are blamed for the departures from the states.

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