West Virginia is Where Republicans' Congressional-Redistricting Edge Ends

BECKLEY, W.Va.—West Virginia’s rapid depopulation over the past decade is costing it and House Republicans a congressional seat, stoking fears that diminished political representation will leave residents further behind economically. West Virginia’s congressional delegation will shrink from three seats—all currently held by the GOP—to two after the 2022 midterm elections because of the once-a-decade reapportionment of House districts required by the Constitution. The state will also lose one vote in the Electoral College beginning in 2024.

It is the only state where the GOP is guaranteed to lose a seat in the next Congress, though both remaining seats are ultimately favored to be retained by Republicans. Losses in other states are possible. The Census Bureau is due to release the first detailed results of the decennial count in mid-August. The state is indicative of a broader trend of America’s slowing population growth, and how depopulation can erode communities. West Virginia is the only state to have both more people die than were born and more people move out than move in during the past 10 years, according to 2020 Census estimates. State officials and residents are now bracing for the resulting loss of political power.

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Kase Poling, an engineering student from Beckley, attended a recent public hearing with state lawmakers on the process. He said he is concerned that the loss of a congressional seat could mean fewer resources brought back to the state, such as money for education or other programs that might help stem the flow of people leaving the state. The state will still have Sens. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, and Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican, playing key roles on legislation, including on the proposed infrastructure bill that would likely direct millions to the state. But on the House side, it is one less lawmaker pushing for the state’s priorities.

Mr. Poling, 23 years old, says many friends from high school have relocated to Charlotte, N.C., or Knoxville, Tenn., for better access to white-collar jobs. “It’s a terrible situation,” he said. While many urban, white-collar workers in the state’s handful of growing counties are experiencing brightening economic prospects, those in places like Raleigh County, where Beckley is the seat, feel more closely aligned to the declining coal and gas-extraction industries that offer less economic security.

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-congressional-redistricting-edge-stops-at-west-virginias-borders-11628596800 (subscription)