We learned last time that there are 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and the more populated your state – the more house seats you get… we have 36 of those 435 seats here in Texas until the next census….
Each individual seat represents one elected member in your state but it also represents a physical piece of land called a congressional district
Each state has at least one… which is in the constitution
I know this is a little elementary for a lot you – but when I first decided to get politically active a few months ago, I knew that Texas had members in the US House of Representatives but I had no idea how many we representative we had or where they came from or even what district I lived in….
So if you’re just learning this now, you are not alone – so hang in there…
So – 3 years after a Census, when we have the total US population, that number goes through this mathematical equation (called Apportionment) and that calculates how many people should be represented by each physical congressional district in the entire US.
After the last census, the math showed that each of the 435 Congressional districts in the US represent an average of 700,000 people
THEN somehow that same equation also figures out how many districts each state gets
So – here in Texas – if you multiply our 36 congressional districts by 700,000 people, you’ll get what our approximate population was after the last census….
So, 3 years after the upcoming 2020 census, each state will be told the average population of a district and how many they get as a state….
From there it is up to each state’s government to divide their physical land into equally populated districts.
This process is known as Redistricting but a lot of people call it Gerrymandering
A term was adopted in 1812 after a cartoon making fun of a new MASS state district map approved by their Governor Elbridge Gerry….
But – this is one of the many reasons our state governments are so important – we haven’t gotten to the structure of state government yet – but just know that it is our state governments drawing our district lines.
It’s NOT those 435 representatives in DC…
I’m going to explain Gerrymandering and how redistricting works in the next video….
Until then, choose Country over Party – State over Party and stay curious – not angry!!