When the analysis of the census data is complete, ten congressional seats will change hands. Eight states will gain one to three seats and ten states will lose one seat each.
Winners are Texas +3, Florida +2 and Arizona, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, and Oregon +1 each.
The following states will lose 1 seat each, Alabama, California (the first time it has lost a seat), Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Rhode Island.
Approval of the Congress is about where it was shortly after the election.
| Approve | Disapprove | |
| Real Clear Pol. 1/5/21 | 18.7% | 70.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 11/10/20 | 18.0% | 70.3% |
| Real Clear Pol. 10/6/20 | 19.3% | 69.0% |
Here is the general religious breakdown of the current Congress.
88.1% Christian (55.4% Protestant, 29.8% Catholic, 1.7% Mormon, 1.3% Orthodox Christian), 6.2% Jewish, 0.4% Buddhist, 0.6% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.6% Unitarian, 0.02%, Unaffiliated, 0.02%, Other, 3.4% Dk/refused. [PEW 1/9/21]
If the ultimate membership of the House of Representatives ends up being 222 Democrats and 213 Republicans, it will be the smallest majority in the House since 2001 when Republicans had a similar majority. For the Democrats, it will be its smallest majority since 1893. [Politico/Morning Consult]
The House of Representatives
2020
- Democrats 222
- Republicans 212
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was elected to a fourth, nonconsecutive term as Speaker of the House, in a 216-209 vote. Two Democrat members voted for other Democrats and three other centrist Democrat members who did not vote for Pelosi in 2019, voted present. [Bloomberg]
27 of the 60 incoming new members of the House are women. There are 29 Republican women in the House in this Congress as compared to 13 in the last Congress. The previous record of Republican women in the House was 25 in 2005.
There are 89 Democrat women in the House including 9 new women members.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, starting her second term in Congress and having made quite a public splash, lost a secret ballot for membership on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. She lost 46-13 to a fellow New Yorker, Rep. Kathleen Rice. Scuttlebutt is that she lost in the House Democratic Steering Committee because she did not personally ask for votes and because some members fear she’ll support a primary against them from the left. [WW]
Allocation of Seats in the U.S House of Representatives
Along with Delaware, Wyoming is the only other state whose representation has held steady at one member since 1913. Idaho and New Hampshire have remained at two.
North and South Dakota’s delegations have shrunk by 67% since 1913, going from three representatives to one.
Missouri had the sixth-most representatives in 1913. Today it has the nation’s 18th largest delegations.
Michigan is the only state to gain and lose at least five representatives since 1913.
New York’s 13th District is the nation’s smallest at 10.2 square miles.
Pennsylvania has shed seats in nine straight censuses after reaching a peak of 36 in 1913-23. It is projected to lose one of its 18 remaining seats this cycle.
Delaware has gone 197 years – longer than any other state – without a change in its number of representatives. The First State had two representatives from 1813-23 and has had one since.
Virginia fielded the largest House delegation until 1813. New York (1813-1973) and California (1973 – present) have held that distinction since.
Florida’s delegation grew from 4 to 27 representatives in just nine census cycles.
Texas is projected to gain up to three congressional seats following 2020 census reapportionment. It would be the Lone Star State’s eighth consecutive cycle with a gain.
Twelve states delegations have been cut by at least 50 percent since 1913.
The equal proportions method, which gives one seat to each state and uses a mathematical formula to divide the remaining 385, has been used since 1940.
By federal law, individual census records are not publicly available until 72 years after they are collected.
In 1913 there were roughly 210,000 constituents per representative. Today, there are about 750,000.
Alaska, which has one representative, is the largest US congressional district by land area.
California jumped eight seats after the 1960 census, the largest single-cycle gain in the last century. [American University Magazine Fall 2020]
The Senate
- Republicans 50
- Democrats 48
- Independents 2
Control of the United State Senate, which has been under the control of the Republicans since 2015, has returned to the Democrats with the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Given the 50/50 split in membership between the two parties (2 Independents caucus with the Democrats). Vice President Harris may have to spend more time in the Senate than she might otherwise prefer.