I lived in OK from 1970-1980. I remember that the preliminary figures of the 1970 Census showed OK’s population decreasing relative to that of the US as a whole, so that OK’s representatives were to be decreased from 7 to 6. Between 1970 & 1972, there was lots of conjecturing about how the new district lines were likely to be drawn, and where you were going to have two incumbents pitted against each other. The only real given was that Carl Albert would be elected, as he was the Speaker of the House after the 1970 elections.
Then at the last minute, when the final Census figures were published, it turned OK citizens were over-represented in the military, and the new figures did mean that OK was still entitled to 7 representatives.
Lots of rambling recollections here, but it seems to me that all the redistricting had to be completed by the '72 elections…
Sue from El Paso
Siamese Attack Puppet - Texas
Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
The results of the 2000 Census will be available to Congress in the 2001 year for re-apportionment in time for the 2002 electoral process, taking effect, then, in January of 2003 when the Congressmen actually take their seats.
Remember that the size of the House is fixed by law at 435 seats (plus a few non-voting delegates), and that every state must have at least one representative. So unless Congress changes the law, states which have only slight population gains may also wind up losing seats to faster-growing states.