Ethnic/Racial Minority Population in
State House & Senate Districts
Three things are expected to change after the 2020 census: the population of ethnic/racial minorities will have increased in all districts as currently configured; the configuration of House and Senate districts will inevitably change 2021 and 2022 through redistricting; the number of ethnic and racial minority legislators will increase in those districts with a minority population of 10,000 or more, assuming gerrymandering can be kept to a minimum and voters can be registered and turned out to vote.
The challenge facing ethnic/racial minorities in the coming decade will be the ability to create electoral coalitions with progressive whites in order to elect more candidates of their choice.
Minorities now have a combined population of 10,000 or more in 2,813 state legislative House districts and in 1,566 state legislative Senate districts, for a total of 4,379 districts in 48 States (see Tables 8.1-8.5 & 8.8-8.11) . As the Latino voting age population grows, we should expect to witness significant increases in minority held seats in state legislatures in every region of the country.