Two Delaware voters filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday seeking to add a second seat to the state’s House delegation.
The plaintiffs, University of Delaware professor David Redlawsk and Delaware resident Kevin Price, contend that Delaware’s current single at-large congressional district, which represents approximately 990,837 residents, provides less representation per person than any other state. They cite Montana, which has nearly 1.1 million residents spread across two districts, as a comparison point.
The lawsuit, filed against U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Commerce Deputy Under Secretary George Cook, and House Clerk Kevin McCumber, argues that the 435-seat cap on the House of Representatives, established under the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, unconstitutionally dilutes Delaware’s representation. The plaintiffs seek a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to declare the cap unconstitutional and mandate an additional seat for Delaware, increasing the House to 436 members.
The complaint asserts that the plaintiffs suffer a concrete injury due to the alleged dilution of their voting power. It also highlights that the U.S. population has grown to over 331 million since the House size was fixed in 1911, when the population was approximately 92 million.
The lawsuit names the Commerce Department as a defendant because it oversees the U.S. Census Bureau, which conducts the decennial population count used to apportion House seats. The plaintiffs’ attorney, Andrew Tutt, argues that the statutory apportionment mechanism has not adjusted to population growth, leaving Delaware with disproportionate representation.
The case follows the 2020 census, which allocated seats based on a population of over 331 million, resulting in Delaware retaining its single at-large district despite having a population comparable to Montana’s two-district allocation.
The lawsuit does not specify a timeline for a judicial decision but requests that the court address the constitutionality of the 435-seat cap and Delaware’s underrepresentation as soon as possible.