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NC Growth Could Merit Additional US House Seat

North Carolina's current congressional map. Image credit: NCLEG.GOV

North Carolina could be getting another Congressional seat, but new population figures must be confirmed before that happens.

The U.S. Census Bureau released new estimates this week. They show North Carolina's population grew ten percent over the last decade, up to 10.5 million.

The Charlotte Observer reports that if those numbers hold up when the full census is done this year, they would qualify for an additional House seat. That means, in terms of congressional seats, North Carolina would have as many or more than all but six other states.

There are currently 13 Congressional districts in North Carolina. 

A new district would be created for the additional seat in 2021. That's the normal timeframe for when the state redraws its congressional and legislative boundaries. 

The state's electoral votes would also increase to 16.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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