scarcely populated and rural Alabama

Huntsville is one of six places in the South and West will host practice runs four years prior to the 2030 U.S. census, a nationwide head count that helps determine political power and the distribution of federal funds.

Alabama is part of the Southern states seeing a boost in population numbers. The South accounted for 87% of the nation’s growth in 2023. That’s according to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, which also shows the South is the only region to have maintained population growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The late U.S. House speaker Tip O'Neill once said that "all politics is local." It can be argued that in a scarcely populated and rural state like…