HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s recent population boom will let the state regain the second U.S. House seat it lost nearly 30 years ago, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures released Monday.
With over 1 million people, the state’s current at-large congressional district is the most populous in the U.S. and is second only to Alaska’s in geographic size.
The state had two congressional districts until it lost one after the 1990 census, as population growth stagnated during the 1980s. The at-large district has been held by Republicans consecutively for more than two decades.
Montana’s growth has been led by towns known for their proximity to outdoor recreation, including Bozeman, Missoula and Kalispell.
Even in a state dominated by the Republican Party, which controls the governor’s office, the state House and Senate, and one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats, the second U.S. House seat is not guaranteed to favor the GOP.
The task of drawing Montana’s congressional districts will fall on the state’s redistricting commission, a non-partisan body of five members.
