Alabama will maintain seven congressional seats under new Census numbers released Monday instead of losing a seat as state officials had feared.
The outcome is a relief to officials worried that Alabama’s population growth would not be enough to maintain its seats in the U.S. House. A drop to six seats would have decreased Alabama’s influence in Washington and kicked off a particularly difficult redistricting process.
The census figures show that Alabama’s population grew by about 5% since 2010 to a little over 5 million residents in 2020. Alabama’s population growth trailed the U.S. as a whole, which grew 7.4%
“This data reveals what we’ve known all along – Alabama is a great state to call home, and many are choosing to do so. I am extremely pleased that we will keep all seven of our current seats in the U.S. House to provide valued and needed voices to advocate for our state and our people for the next 10 years,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement.
Ivey and other Alabama officials had made a push for state residents to participate in the 2020 census, saying an accurate count was crucial to keeping the state’s representation in Congress and the billions of dollars in federal funding handed out on a per capita basis.
Ivey said she offers a “heartfelt thanks to everyone who played a part” in urging census participation.
“This was by far the most time and resources that Alabama state government has ever given toward a census count, and I am happy that our efforts and hard work have paid off,” Kenneth Boswell, the chairman of the Alabama Counts! Committee to boost census participation, said in a statement.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
