GOP Gets Big Win in Census Redistricting Battle, As 3 Republican-Held States Gain Seats in Congress On 4/26/21 at 4:38 PM EDT Associated Press reported. Western states, including Colorado, Montana and Oregon, gained residents in the decade since the last census, and each gained congressional seats. Florida, a perennial swing state, and North Carolina each gained one seat, while Texas was the biggest winner with two. California is losing a congressional seat for the first time—a result of dwindling migration in the nation's most populous state. New York and Ohio lost seats, as well as Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The U.S. population rose by 7.4 percent to 331,449,281, the second-slowest increase ever, the census showed.