Census Data May Blunt Expected Republican Election Gains in 2022

WASHINGTON - The release of detailed local data from the U.S. census this week demonstrated that the country is diversifying and urbanizing more quickly than many had believed, and those results have real consequences for what Congress will look like throughout the coming decade.

In general, the news was good for the Democratic Party. It suggests that some of the anticipated losses in the 2022 elections may be mitigated slightly by population growth in large metropolitan areas, which tend to vote for Democrats, and a decline in rural populations, which tend to favor the Republican Party. In his analysis for The Cook Political Report, David Wasserman wrote that "although Republicans hold more sway in redistricting, Democrats have to be pretty happy with today's results." Drawing new congressional maps