Midwest to lose congressional seats

WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A number of Midwest states will lose congressional seats when state population tallies for reapportionment are announced in December, U.S. analysts say.

Eric J. Ostermeier of the University of Minnesota said his analysis indicates the Midwest will hold a little more than one-fifth of the seats in Congress in 2013, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Tim Storey of the National Conference of State Legislatures held a training seminar for 250 lawmakers from across the country on how to draw new legislative maps and shrink the number of House districts.

"The economic upheaval makes this exercise more unpredictable than it's ever been," said Storey.

In addition to the Midwest, analysts said other likely losers are Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Democrats in Minnesota are already said to be making plans to delete the district of conservative GOP Rep. Michelle Bachmann if they hold on to both chambers of the state Legislature and win the governor's mansion in November.