MONTGOMERY, Ala., April 26 — Alabama Farmers Federation welcomed news today Alabama will not lose a congressional district, according to preliminary results from the 2020 census. 

“We appreciate the leadership provided by Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Director Kenneth Boswell in making sure every Alabamian was counted in the census,” said Federation President Jimmy Parnell. “The governor built a grassroots network of farmers, businesses, educators, clergy and others to communicate the importance of the census. Going into 2020, many predicted Alabama would lose up to two congressional seats and millions of dollars in federal funding. Today’s announcement from the U.S. Census Bureau is a tremendous victory for our state and the people of Alabama.”

The report states Alabama accounts for about 5 million of the U.S. population, which topped 331 million. Based on state-by-state numbers, Texas is poised to gain two seats in Congress while Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon each will gain one. States losing a congressional seat are California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Federation Executive Director Paul Pinyan chaired the Alabama Counts! Rural Subcommittee. Despite good news from the 2020 Census, Pinyan said declining populations in many rural counties demonstrate a need to invest in infrastructure, economic growth and workforce development. 

“For generations, agriculture and forestry have been the lifeblood of rural communities,” Pinyan said. “The Federation appreciates the vision Gov. Ivey and the Legislature have cast to strengthen our rural counties. We look forward to working with them to ensure rural residents share in Alabama’s future prosperity.”