Virginia’s rapidly expanding population continues to shift toward the northern part of the state, bringing with it the promise of greater political clout for Northern Virginia in the state’s affairs, new census figures show.
The new figures, the basis for redrawing the state’s legislative districts in time for this year’s election, mean that the Washington suburbs are likely to gain two new seats in the state House of Delegates and a new state senator in Richmond.
“It’s simple math — it’s boring,” said Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, a member of the House redistricting committee. “But I’d rather be in my situation, being from Northern Virginia where we’ll get more seats, rather than in the south, where they’ll lose seats.”
Fairfax County remains the state’s most populous locality, topping the 1 million mark for the first time and up nearly 12 percent from 2000. But while much of the state’s population growth — Virginia now has 8 million residents — was in the north, it was centered for the first time not in the suburbs closest to Washington but in counties farther west of the District.
Loudoun County nearly doubled in size over the past decade, ballooning to more than 312,000 people from about 170,000 in 2000. Prince William County grew by more than 43 percent to about 402,000, up from about 281,000.
“Northern Virginia has been pushed aside as a squwaker for a lot of years. Now there will be a few more folks to share the concerns we have,” said Fairfax Supervisor Jeff McKay, D-Lee District, chairman of the county’s legislative committee. “The urban areas, the population areas, the suburban areas, will be heard a little more intently in Richmond.”
Hispanics represent the fastest growing ethnic group in the state. They now account for 8 percent of the state’s population, up from 3 percent in 1990. The state’s Asian population is now 6 percent of the overall population, up from 3 percent in 1990.
But simply gaining seats in the north hardly guarantees a unified front in the General Assembly, said George Mason University political scientist Toni-Michelle Travis.
“I think it’ll remain split between the inner suburbs and the outer suburbs on the issues,” she said. “Take transportation, for example. Arlington residents don’t want to widen I-66. They’re densely populated and they’ve done a good job with public transit. But a commuter from Prince William or Loudoun would be more likely to think ‘of course — why not?'”
Even as political influence shifts to the north, lawmakers will have to continue to balance problems in other parts of the state, said Bob Holsworth, longtime Virginia political analyst and chairman of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s advisory commission on redistricting.
“Some of the places that have lost populations still have daunting economic challenges,” he said. “It’s important that we don’t become a state that’s simply ‘NoVa’ and ‘RoVa,’ the rest of Virginia.”
