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3 City Council districts likely to see boundary changes

Jeremy M. Lazarus | 10/14/2021, 6 p.m.
Redistricting could end up being a breeze for Richmond City Council.

Redistricting could end up being a breeze for Richmond City Council.

Only three of the nine districts—the 2nd, 3rd and 6th districts—likely would need some adjustments if the council chooses to avoid any major overhaul, according to their redistricting consultant, attorney J. Gerald Hebert, an expert who once led the U.S. Justice Department’s Voting Section.

Mr. Hebert

Mr. Hebert

Richmond, like states and localities across the country, is gearing up to redraw political boundary lines based on population changes from the 10-year Census. Both the federal and state constitutions require such adjustments.

City Council has not yet adopted a schedule to redistrict, but faces no pressure with the next elections for City Council and School Board happening in 2024.

Data Mr. Hebert presented to City Council Monday during its informal session showed that Richmond officially grew by 22,396 residents between 2010 and 2020, according to results of the 2020 U.S. Census, with population growing in all nine council districts.

The biggest increases were in the 2nd District, which includes Carver, much of Jackson Ward and The Fan, and in the 6th District, which sprawls from Highland Park in North Side to Hillside Court in South Side.

Now the most populous district, the 2nd, represented by Councilwoman Katherine Jordan, added about 4,400 residents to reach 27,198 residents. The 6th District, represented by Councilwoman Ellen F. Robertson, gained 4,700 residents to become the second most populous district with 26,931 residents.

The 7th District, which includes Church Hill, Fulton and Shockoe Bottom and is represented by council President Cynthia I. Newbille, jumped to No. 3. That district was listed as having 26,258 residents, a surge of 4,500 residents from 2010.

Two other districts in South Side each added about 2,000 residents—the 4th, represented by Councilwoman Kristen N. Larson, which now has 24,205 residents; and the 9th, represented by Councilman Michael J. Jones, which has 25,600 residents.

Three other districts grew by about 1,500 residents—the 1st, represented by Councilman Andreas D. Addison, which has 24,899 residents; the 5th, represented by Councilwoman Stephanie A. Lynch, which has 24,000 residents; and the 8th, represented by Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, which has 25,283 residents.

The 3rd District, represented by Councilwoman Ann-Frances Lambert, is now the least populous, having added only 362 people in the past 10 years to reach 22,236 residents.

The ideal district in Richmond would have 25,179 residents, derived from dividing nine into the Census count for 2020 of 226,610 residents, Mr. Hebert noted.

In 2010, the ideal was 22,690, based on an official count of 204,690 residents.

Mr. Hebert said the 3rd District currently has nearly 12 percent fewer people than the ideal; the 2nd District’s population is 8 percent above the ideal; and the 6th District’s population is 7 percent above the ideal.

Both the 2nd and 6th districts border the 3rd, which could simplify City Council’s task of moving boundary lines, if council members follow the pattern of the 2011 redistricting in which council opted for the fewest possible changes.

The populations of the other six districts deviate from the ideal by less than 5 percent, Mr. Hebert said, the standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court for determining if adjustments must be made.