So every ten years when they do the census and reapportion Congressional Districts, you usually end up with a few states losing a seat or two while others gain a seat or two. For the last several decades the trend has been for states in the northeast and midwest to forfeit seats to expanding western and sunbelt states. But I’d be interested to know what state has lost the most Congressional Districts total over the course of American history. Anybody know?
A chart on this page lets you look at electoral votes for every state for every presidential election. This should have the info you need.
http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/index.php
Remember, the number of electoral votes are equal to the number of senatorial and congressional seats a state has.
Looking at it, the only state I can see that’s lost a congressional district is South Dakota, which had 4 electoral votes (and hence 2 districts) in 1892 (which was its first presidential election) and now has 3.
Pennsylvania now has only half the disctricts it used to; 19, as opposed to the 36 it once boasted, a drop of 17 disctricts, which I believe is the record.
New York State was once the most populous state, and obviously no longer is. It now has 29 districts; as recently as 1948 it had 45 districts, so it’s lost 16 districts.
On the other hand, Pennsylvania originally had 8 districts, so over time, it’s gained 11 districts, and New York originally had 8, so that’s a gain of 21 districts. Neither have “lost districts total”
The question only makes sense if it’s limited to 1911 and later, after the House’s size was fixed at 435 members. Before that, the House kept growing along with the states’ populations. Since then, *relative * population is what matters.