The Hotline, the on-line wing of National Journal, is reporting that Iowa is one of a handful of states projected to lose one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2012 reapportionment that will occur after the 2010 Census.
Losing representation in Congress is nothing new to Iowans, who will have lost half of their House seats since 1960, as the states' population growth is not keeping pace with the rest of the country. In 1960 Iowa had 8 representatives in the US House, falling to 7 in 1962 after reapportionment. In 1972 Iowa lost another seat—and held these 6 seats until 2002—when they lost one more to its current level of 5.
The Upper Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) has lost several congressional seats in the last 50 years—losing nearly a quarter of its overall representation in the US House since 1960:
1960 = 29 seats
1962 = 27 seats
1972 = 25 seats
1982 = 24 seats
1992 = 24 seats
2002 = 22 seats
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