Perhaps the sickest thing about the rapid decline of blue states like New York and California, each rapidly shrinking in comparison to the rest of the country, is that the Democrats who dominate their governments can’t be bothered to stop the bleeding — but only to ensure their own turf remains whole.
A new analysis by reapportionment expert Jonathan Cervas suggests internal migration in advance of the 2030 Census will cost New York two House seats, and California four; Texas and Florida would gain eight, dramatically shifting political power and federal funding away from the deep-blue strongholds.
Of course the Empire State has been shrinking for decades, while the Golden State was gaining until 2000, with its House delegation shrinking for the first time ever after the last Census.
Yet the progressive Democrats who fully control both state government show zero sign of reversing their high tax, prodigious spending, crushing-regulation ways; their only response is to gerrymander ruthlessly so that their party retains its House-seat count.
Heck, as long as it’s mostly Republican voters who flee, they might even applaud the exodus.
So, California, if you want to see your future, just look at New York, which has been losing ground for nearly a century, losing House seats after every single 10-year census starting in 1940.
It’s now down to just 26, from 45 in the 1930s — and looking at 24 in 2031 if Cervas’ math proves true.
Fine: The early part of that decline had a lot to do with the climate, as air conditioning made life in many parts of the country far more tolerable; you can leave the land of near-zero winter temps and brutal snowstorms without melting in the summers.
But California’s climate remains as perfect as ever, yet it’s staring at a drastic drop come 2030 — its House delegation shrinking more than 10% in just two decades.
Without a doubt, the two states’ increasingly-lefty policies explains their shared decline.
Democratic policies “raise the cost on just about everything,” warns Upstate United’s Justin Wilcox.
New Yorkers pay more tax per capita than any other Americans; California is racing to catch up after taking a hard left turn in the late 1990s.
Progressive laws and regulations drive up housing costs, making it far more expensive and time-consuming to build.
Green anti-carbon (and anti-nuclear, for some reason) obsessions lead to exorbitant costs for electricity that also becomes less reliable.
Business taxes and regulations push away companies — and jobs, sending unemployment skyrocketing.
Plus, Dem rule lets lousy schools proliferate, allowing teacher unions and other vested interests to run public education systems to suit their needs, not the kids’.
And lefty social policies foster rampant homelessness and public drug use, as well as exploding crime.
The future looks more grim in both states: New York is eyeing statewide tax hikes to fund Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda, while the threat of a new “wealth tax” in Cali is already driving out top earners.
By contrast, Texas and Florida consistently rank among the most business-friendly states; neither has an income tax.
Don’t expect New York or California Democrats to copy that model.
Instead, they’re making sure they’re held harmless, by helping themselves to an ever-larger share of the pie their policies are shrinking.
In California, Dems just rammed through a new gerrymander openly designed to boost their share of the state’s 52 House seats from 40 to as many as 48; that’ll give them 92% of the seats, even though only 47% of voters are registered Democrats.
New York Democrats have been playing the same game; they already hold 19 of the state’s 26 seats and are now suing to steal New York City’s only GOP seat, ludicrously claiming that a district including Staten Island and nearby parts of Brooklyn somehow “dilutes black and Latino voting strength” simply because it repeatedly elects (centrist) Republicans — when the incumbent, Rep. Nicole Maliotakis, is Hispanic on her mom’s side.
Eventually, this strategy will fail: What does New York do if it finally drives the last of Wall Street away? California, if it kills Silicon Valley?
You can only drive away so many Republicans, and then independents, before you’ve turned a once-prosperous state into a ruin.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
