Reapportionment,
or redistricting, occurs every 10 years, following the
decennial census in the United States. Every 10 years,
we count our population, with the most populous states
represented by more Congressmen in the House of
Representatives than the less populated states.
In
Virginia, our population has grown to a little over 8 million
people. A lot of the population growth has occurred in
the Northern Virginia area, while the southwestern part of the
state continues to lose population. The Hampton Roads
area, while it did experience growth, did not keep pace with
Northern Virginia.
Now,
the lines for Congressional districts and the House and Senate
districts in the Virginia General Assembly will be redrawn to
reflect population growth and loss. Each Senate member
must represent approximately 200,000 people, while each House
member must represent about 80,000 people. In Hampton
Roads, most of the districts need to add people, as all
districts must be within plus or minus 5% of the ideal number
of people. The chart below illustrates just where the
Virginia Beach districts stand in terms of adding, subtracting
or maintaining the number of people per district.
ESTIMATED VARIANCE
FROM TARGET POPULATION
Senate
Target Population – 200,206 Persons
House
Target Population – 80,010 Persons
Districts
within Virginia Beach
Districts
within Virginia Beach
District
Representative
Variance
in Population from Target
Percentage
Variance to Target
District
Representative
Variance
in Population from Target
Percentage
Variance to Target
8
McWaters
-25,079
-12.5%
82
Purkey
-9,593
-12.0%
7
Wagner
-22,240
-11.1%
81
Knight
-5,555
-6.9%
14
Blevins
-879
-0.4%
84
Iaquinto
-2,274
-2.8%
6
Northam
-28,401
-14.2%
83
Stolle
-6,839
-8.5%
5
Y.B.
Miller
-17,958
-9.0%
21
Villaneuva
-3,944
-4.9%
Districts
outside Virginia Beach
85
Tata
-5,975
-7.5%
90
A.
Howell
-8,930
-11.2%
Districts
outside Virginia Beach
3
Norment
+11,697
+5.8%
100
Lewis
-8,636
-10.8%
18
Lucas
-25,233
-12.6%
87
P.
Miller
-8,505
-10.6%
13
Quayle
-2,797
-1.4%
89
Alexander
-5,751
-7.2%
1
Miller,
John
-29,751
-14.9%
78
Cosgrove
+1,052
+1.3%
2
Locke
-22,955
-11.5%
As
mentioned, Congressional districts will also be redrawn, and
must be within plus or minus 2% of the ideal total of people
per district.
This
will be a very interesting process over the next few months,
as the General Assembly will return to Richmond on April 4th
to begin a redistricting session prior to the veto session on
April 6th. Each member will have an opportunity to have
input on how his or her district will be drawn, as will the
public. The Governor’s Independent Bipartisan
Redistricting Commission is holding a series of hearings where
the public can voice their concerns about how the districts in
which they live will be redrawn. Here is a link to the
Virginia Public Access Project, which has information on
redistricting and a list of public hearings:www.vpap.org.
In the video clip below, Frank Wagner
explains redistricting and what it means for the Hampton Roads
area as well as for all Virginians:
