Minn. may lose House seat in next Census release

Published 3:37 pm Monday, December 20, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota might lose a little clout in Washington after the U.S. Census releases its newest population totals on Tuesday.

Demographers say the state is on the bubble to lose one of its eight seats in the U.S. House along with an electoral vote in presidential elections.

That’s because the number of seats in the House is fixed at 435. Every 10 years the Census Bureau counts the nation’s population, which starts a process that ends with each state allotted its share of seats.

Minnesota has been growing in the past 10 years, but not as fast as several southern states.

State Demographer Tom Gillaspy thinks Minnesota will keep all eight seats because of a major effort to reach hard-to-count groups last year.