1. The United States
Congress

2. The House of Representatives
Section 2
The House of Representatives

3. The House of Representatives
Number of State’s Representatives dependent on its population.
Representatives serve 2 year terms
Representatives up for re-election “en masse”
House of Representatives
Vote for Me!

4. Freshman Class 113th Congress House of Representatives - 2012

5. Reapportionment
Article I directs Congress to reapportion the seats in the House every ten years, after each census.
A Growing Nation
As the nation has grown so has our congressional delegation. (65 – 435)
Reapportionment Act of 1929
House permanently set at 435 (unless Congress passes another law to change the number)
Census bureau determines the number each state gets according to the decennial census’s data.

8. Colorado Federal House Districts 2002 - 2011

9. Colorado Federal House Districts 2012 - 2021

10. House Elections Off-Year Elections Congressional Districts
Elections that happen in non-presidential election years.
Congressional Districts
Single-member district – state divided geographically into districts from with a single representative is elected.
At-large candidates – elected from the state as a whole.
Gerrymandering
The drawing of district lines to favor a particular party over another.

12. House Qualifications Formal Qualifications Informal Qualifications
25 years old
U.S. citizen for 7 years
Resident of district in which they run
Informal Qualifications
“vote-getting ability”
Race, sex, class, sexual orientation, party identification, name familiarity, political experience.