Ga. population swells to 9.7 million in past 10 years

ATLANTA - Georgia's population has swelled to nearly 9.7 million in the past decade, according to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Census.

The increase of more than 1.5 million people up from nearly 8.2 million in 2000 means the state - as expected - picks up a seat in the House of Representatives, bringing the Georgia congressional delegation to 14 members. The first numbers from the 2010 Census were announced Tuesday, including the official population of the United States, which totaled more than 308 million people.

The Census Bureau announced Tuesday that the nation's population on April 1 was 308,745,538, up from 281.4 million a decade ago. The growth rate for the past decade was 9.7 percent, a slower pace than the 13.2 percent population increase from 1990 to 2000.

Only one state, Michigan, lost population during the past decade. Nevada, with a 35 percent increase, was the fastest-growing state.

Georgia is now the ninth most populous state, up from 10th in 2000 and grew at a rate of 18.3 percent, outpacing the national growth of 9.7 percent.

The state was one of the few in the South to make congressional gains.
South Carolina also picked up a House seat, Florida added two seats and Texas was the biggest winner in the region, gaining four seats. Georgia neighbors Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina saw no gains, and Louisiana is losing a seat.

NEW SEAT LIKELY TO COME OUT OF NORTH GA.

Georgia's new district will likely be drawn somewhere in north Georgia, where the state's population has seen the most growth, said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.

``We can anticipate that Republicans will try to make sure this new district is Republican,'' Bullock said, citing the GOP-controlled governor's office and state legislature.

Bullock also predicted that rural districts in south Georgia would likely get bigger and northern districts could shrink as lines will be adjusted to equalize the populations in each district, which will have roughly 711,000 constituents up from about 647,000 in 2000. Districts in and around Atlanta's 28-county metropolitan area will also see change.

GOV.-ELECT REACTS

Gov.-elect Nathan Deal, a former Georgia congressman, welcomed the additional House seat in what he called a crucial redistricting year.

``As our state continues to grow, so does our influence and stature on the national stage,'' Deal said in a statement Tuesday, adding that he will call a special session of the General Assembly in late summer to redraw districts for the state House, state Senate and Georgia's congressional seats.

The final plan will require federal approval under the Voting Rights Act because of the state's history of discrimination against minorities. The law will likely protect Rep. Sanford Bishop, who is African-American and represents a largely black electorate in south Georgia.

Bishop barely won re-election this year and political bartering may work in his favor, Bullock said.

``If there were an effort to undermine him, you'd be asking for trouble from the Department of Justice,'' Bullock said. ``What makes more sense is to make swaps ... to take some white voters out of Bishop's district and move some African-Americans in to make him more secure.''

Such a move could benefit newly elected Rep. Austin Scott, whose district is adjacent to Bishop's and could become more red.

The new numbers have set the stage for a tug of war in the coming months, Bullock said.

``It will depend upon who ends up on the House and Senate redistricting committees,'' Bullock said. ``The individuals on those committees often try to design a district that they can run successfully for Congress in.''

HOW OTHER STATES SHAPE UP

The new numbers are a boon for Republicans nationwide, with Texas leading the way among GOP-leaning states that will gain House seats at the Rust Belt's expense. Following each once-a-decade census, the nation must reapportion the House's 435 districts to make them roughly equal in population, with each state getting at least one seat.

That triggers an often contentious and partisan process in many states, which will draw new congressional district lines that can help or hurt either party.

Texas will gain four new House seats, and Florida will gain two. Gaining one each are Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington.

Ohio and New York will lose two House seats each. Losing one House seat are Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Florida will now have as many U.S. House members as New York: 27. California will still have 53 seats, and Texas will climb to 36.

In 2008, President Barack Obama lost in Texas and most of the other states that are gaining House seats. He carried most of the states that are losing House seats, including Ohio and Pennsylvania. Each House district represents an electoral vote in the presidential election process, meaning the political map for the 2012 election will tilt somewhat more Republican.

For the first time in its history, Democratic-leaning California will not gain a House seat after a census.

Starting early next year, most state governments will use detailed, computer-generated data on voting patterns to carve neighborhoods in or out of newly drawn House districts, tilting them more to the left or right. Sometimes politicians play it safe, quietly agreeing to protect Republican and Democratic incumbents alike. But sometimes the party in control will gamble and aggressively try to reconfigure the map to dump as many opponents as possible.

Last month's elections put Republicans in full control of numerous state governments, giving the GOP an overall edge in the redistricting process. State governments' ability to gerrymander districts is somewhat limited, however, by court rulings that require roughly equal populations, among other things. The 1965 Voting Rights Act protects ethnic minorities in several states that are subject to U.S. Justice Department oversight.

The U.S. is still growing quickly relative to other developed nations. The population in France and England each increased roughly 5 percent over the past decade, while in Japan the number is largely unchanged, and Germany's population is declining. China grew at about 6 percent; Canada's growth rate is roughly 10 percent.

The declining U.S. growth rate since 2000 is due partly to the economic meltdown in 2008, which brought U.S. births and illegal immigration to a near standstill compared with previous years. The 2010 count represents the number of people - citizens as well as legal and illegal immigrants - who called the U.S. their home on April 1.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs sought Monday to downplay the possibility that 2010 census results would be a boon for Republicans. "I don't think shifting some seats from one area of the country to another necessarily marks a concern that you can't make a politically potent argument in those new places," he said.

States losing political clout may have little recourse to challenge the census numbers. Still, census officials were bracing for the possibility of lawsuits seeking to revise the 2010 findings.

The release of state apportionment numbers is the first set of numbers from the 2010 census. Beginning in February, the Census Bureau will release population and race breakdowns down to the neighborhood level for states to redraw congressional boundaries.

Louisiana, Virginia, New Jersey and Mississippi will be among the first states to receive their redistricting data in February.

The 2010 census results also are used to distribute more than $400 billion in annual federal aid and will change each state's Electoral College votes beginning in the 2012 presidential election.