‘The housing market is booming. People are moving to the inner cities, as well as to the rural outskirts…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Ten states, most of them with Democratic state governments, have significantly fewer residents than last year, according to Scott Rasmussen, and the cause is likely high taxes, fiscal mismanagement, and the lack of opportunity.
While the population shift is sure to impact the political landscape in noticeable ways after next year’s redistricting, it remains to be seen whether it will benefit Democrats or Republicans more.
New York faced the biggest exodus, with 76,790 residents leaving the state to move to redder, friendlier states. Some, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, openly courted tech and financial companies from the Big Apple, while President Donald Trump goaded New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the losses, even moving there himself.
Illinois, West Virginia, Louisiana, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Hawaii also lost thousands of residents, while Texas, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia gained hundreds of thousands.
North Carolina saw more than 100,000 new families move to the state last year, and now it’s a top destination for movers, according to a U-Haul analysis of U.S. migration trends.
“North Carolina is seeing growth in businesses coming in, which attracts new residents,” Jason Grider, president of U-Haul Co. of Central North Carolina, said in a statement.
“The housing market is booming,” he continued. “People are moving to the inner cities, as well as to the rural outskirts. With plenty of jobs to choose from, residents from every background are making North Carolina their home.”
In many cases, residents of blue states are becoming increasingly fed up with the high taxes, heavy regulation, and political correctness required by its Democratic politicians, and are leaving in search of business and family-friendly environments.
This trend could affect the nation’s electoral make-up, according to the latest Census Bureau report, which predicts that “the population projections point toward a ten [congressional] seat change over 17 states across the nation by year 2020.”
Seven states are projected to gain one or more congressional seats after the 2020 election and 10 states are projected to lose one seat.
Of the seven states gaining seats, five voted for Trump in 2016, and of the 10 states losing seats, half voted for Hillary Clinton. That bodes well for GOP delegations, unless the number of blue-state refugees results in a total realignment of the region’s political leanings.
However, the decennial population count is likely to be impacted by other factors, including both legal and illegal immigration, which stand to benefit California in particular.
Since the number of House seats remains 435 and is proportionately distributed, some estimate that California’s population increases over the last decade, which only recently approached critical mass, could result in its stealing 11 seats formerly held by red states.
Texas, meanwhile, which has been on the front-lines of a leftist incursion both from blue states like California and from immigration across the southern border with Mexico, recently announced it would stop accepting new asylum-seeking migrants for resettlement.
The short term effect of this may be to its disadvantage, helping to quell the population boom that would otherwise add congressional and electoral seats from residents who do not, themselves, have voting rights.
However, long-term it may help to stave off the steady purpling of the state, which has been a major goal of the Left.
Liberty Headlines’ Ben Sellers contributed to this report.