 I'm going to spend some time looking at the newly-released Census data for Virginia. For starters, Virginia's population has now surpassed 8 million (by 1,024 people). The largest county remains Fairfax, at 1.08 million, followed by Prince William at 402,002, Chesterfield at 316,236, Loudoun at 312,311, and Henrico at 306,935. The largest city is Virginia Beach, at 437,994, followed by Norfolk at 242,803, Chesapeake at 222,209, and Richmond at 204,214.
As for the Congressional districts, the 10th CD is 142,071 people over "ideal," while the 2nd CD is 81,182 people below "ideal," while the 9th CD is 71,166 below. Information on state Senate districts is here, and state House of Delegates districts here. One district that jumps out at me is Sen. Mark Herring's (the 33rd), which has grown enormously and is now 116,410 people above "ideal." In contrast, Sen. Ralph Northam's district (the 6th) is 47,680 people below "ideal." On the House side, Del. Bob Marshall's district (the 13th) has grown enormously, and is now 110,610 over "ideal" population. There's a ton more information here, anything jump out at you?
UPDATE: NLS has some thoughts on the numbers, including that "the Democrats in the Senate have a nightmare on their hands."
UPDATE #2: The Roanoke Times has some highlights, including that Loudoun County is the fastest growing jurisdiction in Virginia, while Accomac County on the Eastern Shore showed the largest percentage decrease in population. In addition, "Northern Virginia saw big increases in the Hispanic population," with "Manassas and Manassas Park...now the most Hispanic localities in Virginia," with Prince William County now 20% Hispanic, and with Loudoun County showing a doubling in the percentage of Hispanics ("and keep in mind Loudoun's overall population growth nearly doubled, so for the Hispanic share to double, as well, that's a lot of people."). Finally, the Roanoke Times notes that "Southwest and Southside Virginia will lose at least one state House seat in the General Assembly," and that " House districts from Roanoke to the southwest corner of the state all fall short of the state's 'ideal district population.'"
UPDATE #3: Former senior political reporter at CQ, Greg Giroux, has some interesting tweets on the census data. For instance, "Hispanic population in Virginia increased 92% last decade." And, "VA Hispanic pop exploded in outer DC suburbs but was down 11% in Arlington in '00s. 1 of only 2 VA cos/cities to lose Hispanic pop." Also, "Virginia Asian pop grew 69% in '00s acdg to #census, from 261,023 to 439,890. Up 408% in Loudoun Co, where Asians now 15% of pop." Fascinating.
UPDATE #4: The Washington Post reports, "Almost 40 percent of the growth in the state occurred in three Northern Virginia counties: Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun." Also, "seven of 10 Virginians live in three big urban areas, and Virginia's once-mighty rural areas are shrinking." Finally, "As recently as 1990, non-Hispanic whites made up 76 percent of the state's residents. A decade later, their numbers had fallen to 70 percent, and last year, they accounted for less than two-thirds of the state's residents." |
