Two Delaware voters file lawsuit seeking a second House seat for the state, arguing that its single representative leaves residents with less congressional representation per person than people in any other state. The suit asks a federal court to declare the 435-seat limit unconstitutional and add one seat for Delaware.
The plaintiffs, University of Delaware professor David Redlawsk and Delaware resident Kevin Price, filed their case Tuesday against Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. They say Delaware has roughly 991,000 people but only one at-large House seat. Montana, with just under 1.1 million residents, has two seats, the lawsuit notes.
Why Delaware voters file lawsuit seeking another House seat
The complaint challenges the House’s 435-member cap under the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929. Redlawsk and Price want a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to rule that the limit violates the Constitution and provide Delaware with another representative.
“The 435-seat limitation imposes a severe and avoidable disparity on Delaware’s voters,” the lawsuit says. It also says the plaintiffs suffer a “concrete and particularized injury” because their representation in the House is diluted.
The complaint asks for a remedy that would increase the House to 436 members while leaving the allocations of the other 49 states intact. If Congress does not act, the plaintiffs ask the court to order the increase itself.
The filing names Lutnick because the Commerce Department oversees the Census. The population count conducted every ten years is used to apportion House seats. The case also names Commerce Deputy Under Secretary George Cook, who is fulfilling the duties of the Census Bureau director, and House Clerk Kevin McCumber.
The plaintiffs point to population growth
Attorney Andrew Tutt argues that the U.S. population has grown while the statutory number of House seats has stayed fixed. He cites the 2020 census apportionment, which divided seats among more than 331 million people. That was more than three-and-a-half times the 92 million people counted in the 1910 census, before the current House size was set in 1911, according to the lawsuit.
The filing says Delaware had 990,837 people after the 2020 census and one representative. It proposes that two representatives would serve those residents, averaging approximately 495,419 people per representative.
Redlawsk and Price want the additional seat in place in time for the 2028 presidential election. The suit says the change would give Delaware voters more representation while preserving every other state’s current allocation.
The argument concerns how a fixed national seat total applies as the population counted for apportionment increases. A separate dispute over state action over restaurant fees also centers on legal claims about how businesses operate, though it involves different parties and issues.
The Delaware plaintiffs’ requested remedy would change the total number of House members. Their complaint asks the court to make that change if Congress does not respond to their request.
The suit also places the Census Bureau’s role in apportionment at the center of the case. For another account of legal concerns involving public institutions, see the International Bar Association’s statement about sanctions against the International Criminal Court.
Questions about government responsibility for online services have also appeared in legal debates, including Australia’s proposed online safety duties. That proposal concerns provider obligations and is separate from the Delaware case.
The Commerce Department and the House clerk did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to the source report. The requested next step is for the three-judge panel to consider whether the 435-seat limitation is unconstitutional and what remedy, if any, the court can order.
