WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- The state of Massachusetts will likely lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the results of the 2010 U.S. Census, an expert says.
Kimball Brace of Election Data Services, a political consulting firm, said the upcoming census should uncover a long-term population shift that will likely cost Massachusetts a congressional district, The Boston Globe reported Friday.
Between 2000 and 2008, the population of Massachusetts increased by 2.3 percent. The national average for population growth during that time span was 8 percent.
"We did five different scenarios projecting the population forward, and in each of those five scenarios, Massachusetts would lose a seat," Brace said.
Brace added other Northeastern U.S. states like New York and New Jersey will likely also lose congressional seats.
U.S. Rep. Michael E. Capuano, D-Mass., expressed a sense of futility to the Globe in regards to the population shift due to warmer weather and cheaper housing in the southern portion of the nation.
"I haven't got any control over it, so why worry about it?" Capuano said. "I don't think there's anyone around who has figured out how to stop the population flow to the Southwest."
