Alabama's 7th congressional district

Coordinates: 32°33′5.2″N 87°52′17.04″W / 32.551444°N 87.8714000°W / 32.551444; -87.8714000

Alabama's 7th congressional district
Alabama's 7th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative	Terri Sewell (D–Birmingham)
Area	8,780 sq mi (22,700 km2)
Distribution	72.2% urban 27.8% rural
Population (2015)	667,721[1]
Median income	26,672
Ethnicity	35.5% White 61.7% Black 0.6% Asian 1.3% Hispanic 0.2% Native American 0.7% other
Occupation	28.6% Blue-collar 53.4% White-collar 18% Gray-collar
Cook PVI	D+20[2]

Alabama's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Alabama that elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives. The district encompasses Choctaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo, Pickens, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties, and portions of Clarke, Jefferson, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa counties. The district encompasses portions of the Birmingham, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa/Northport urban areas. The largest city entirely within the district is Selma.

The district has been majority-minority, with a majority of African-American residents, since the redistricting following the 1990 census. It is represented by Democrat Terri Sewell, who succeeded Artur Davis in 2010.

Character[edit]

Alabama's 7th Congressional District was first defined in 1843; it has continued since then with the exception of the years 1867–1873 during the Reconstruction era. The geographic area represented by this district has changed over time, depending upon the number of U.S. Representatives apportioned to Alabama. Around the turn of the 20th century, the district included the city of Gadsden. Over time, the district was redefined to include the area around Tuscaloosa. The last two representatives for the district before its reconfiguration as a majority-minority area were Richard Shelby (now Alabama's senior senator) and Claude Harris, both Tuscaloosa residents.

The shape of the current district was largely established in 1992, when it was reconstituted as a majority-minority district under provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended in 1982 to encourage greater representation for minorities in Congress.^[3] Half of the western Alabama portion of the district was moved to the 4th district, and a large portion of Tuscaloosa County was moved into the 6th district, which had primarily been based around Birmingham. To counter the loss in population and to create the majority minority, many counties from the Black Belt region, a rural expanse in Alabama with a high proportion of African-American residents descended from workers on cotton plantations, were added to the district, as was an arm extending from Tuscaloosa roughly along the Interstate 20/59 corridor into Jefferson County to take in most of the black precincts of Birmingham. Most of Birmingham's white residents remained in the 6th District. The three representatives elected from the district following reconfiguration—Earl F. Hilliard, Artur Davis and Terri Sewell—have all been residents of Birmingham.

Mostly minor changes in the following two redistrictings have not substantially changed the shape of the district. But, western portions of Montgomery County have been restored to this district, including large swaths of inner-city Montgomery in the redistricting following the 2010 census. This area had earlier been removed after the 2000 census. The district contains urbanized areas of Birmingham, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, and ten of the fourteen rural counties in the Black Belt. Three of the state's largest colleges are located in the district: Alabama State University in Montgomery, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Democrats have represented the 7th district in all but 6 years since 1843.

Recent election results from statewide races[edit]

A majority of voters in the district are African Americans who support the Democratic Party and its candidates.

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	Gore 66–33%
2004	President	Kerry 64–35%
2008	President	Obama 72–27%
2012	President	Obama 72–27%

List of representatives[edit]

Congress	Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
District created March 4, 1843.
28th Congress 29th Congress	Felix G. McConnell	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – September 10, 1846	Died.
29th Congress	Vacant		September 10, 1846 – December 7, 1846
29th Congress 30th Congress 31st Congress	Franklin W. Bowdon	Democratic	December 7, 1846 – March 3, 1851	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
32nd Congress	Alexander White	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
33rd Congress	James F. Dowdell	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Redistricted to the 3rd congressional district.
34th Congress	Sampson W. Harris	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Redistricted from the 3rd congressional district.
35th Congress 36th Congress	Jabez L. M. Curry	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – January 21, 1861	Withdrew.
36th Congress 37th Congress	January 21, 1861 – March 4, 1863			American Civil War.
District eliminated in 1863.
District re-established in 1877.
45th Congress 46th Congress 47th Congress 48th Congress 49th Congress 50th Congress 51st Congress 52nd Congress	William H. Forney	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1893	Redistricted from the At-large district.
53rd Congress	William H. Denson	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
54th Congress 55th Congress	Milford W. Howard	Populist	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
56th Congress 57th Congress 58th Congress 59th Congress 60th Congress 61st Congress 62nd Congress 63rd Congress 64th Congress 65th Congress 66th Congress	John L. Burnett	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – May 13, 1919	Died.
66th Congress	Vacant		May 13, 1919 – September 30, 1919
66th Congress 67th Congress	Lilius Bratton Rainey	Democratic	September 30, 1919 – March 3, 1923	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
68th Congress 69th Congress 70th Congress 71st Congress 72nd Congress	Miles C. Allgood	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	Redistricted to the 5th congressional district.
73rd Congress 74th Congress 75th Congress 76th Congress	William B. Bankhead	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – September 15, 1940	Redistricted from the 10th congressional district. Died.
76th Congress	Vacant		September 15, 1940 – November 5, 1940
76th Congress	Zadoc L. Weatherford	Democratic	November 5, 1940 – January 3, 1941	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
77th Congress	Walter W. Bankhead	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – February 1, 1941	Resigned.
77th Congress	Vacant		February 1, 1941 – June 24, 1941
77th Congress 78th Congress 79th Congress 80th Congress	Carter Manasco	Democratic	June 24, 1941 – January 3, 1949	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
81st Congress 82nd Congress 83rd Congress 84th Congress 85th Congress 86th Congress 87th Congress	Carl Elliott	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1963	Redistricted to the At-large district.
88th Congress	District inactive, all representatives elected At-large on a general ticket.		January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965
89th Congress	James D. Martin	Republican	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
90th Congress 91st Congress 92nd Congress	Tom Bevill	Democratic	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973	Redistricted to the 4th congressional district.
93rd Congress 92nd Congress 95th Congress	Walter Flowers	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979	Redistricted from the 5th congressional district.
96th Congress 97th Congress 98th Congress 99th Congress	Richard C. Shelby	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1987	Elected to U.S. Senate.
100th Congress 101st Congress 102nd Congress	Claude Harris, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
103rd Congress 104th Congress 105th Congress 106th Congress 107th Congress	Earl F. Hilliard	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
108th Congress 109th Congress 110th Congress 111th Congress	Artur Davis	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011	Retired to run for Governor
112th Congress 113th Congress 114th Congress 115th Congress	Terri Sewell	Democratic	January 3, 2011 – present	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]

Recent election results[edit]

2002[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Artur Davis	153,735	92.30%
	Libertarian	Lauren Orth McCay	12,100	7.31%
	Write-in	Write-ins	474	0.29%
Majority			141,635	84.9%
Total votes			166,309	100.00%
	Democratic hold

2004[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Artur Davis*	183,408	75%
	Republican	Steve Cameron	61,019	25%
	Write-in	Write-ins	211	0.09%
Majority			122,389	50%
Total votes			244,638	100%
	Democratic hold

2006[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Artur Davis*	133,870	99%
	Write-in	Write-ins	1,297	1%
Majority			132,573	98%
Total votes			135,167	100%
	Democratic hold

2008[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Artur Davis*	228,518	99%
	Write-in	Write-ins	3,183	1%
Majority			225,335	98%
Total votes			231,701	100%
	Democratic hold

2010[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Terri Sewell	136,223	72%
	Republican	Don Chamberlain	51,882	28%
Majority			84,341	44%
Total votes			188,105	100%
	Democratic hold

2012[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Terri Sewell*	232,520	76%
	Republican	Don Chamberlain	73,835	24%
Majority			158,685	52%
Total votes			299,057	100%
	Democratic hold

2014[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Terri Sewell*	133,687	98%
	Write-in	Write-ins	2,212	2%
Majority			131,475	96%
Total votes			135,899	100%
	Democratic hold

2016[edit]

Alabama's 7th congressional district election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Terri Sewell*	229,330	98%
	No party	Write-ins	3,698	2%
Total votes			233,028	100%
Voter turnout			%
	Democratic hold

Living former Members[edit]

As of April 2015^[update], there are four former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from this district who are living.

Representative	Term in office	Date of birth (and age)
James D. Martin	1965–1967	(1918-09-01) September 1, 1918 (age 98)
Richard Shelby	1979–1987	(1934-05-06) May 6, 1934 (age 83)
Earl F. Hilliard	1993–2003	(1942-04-09) April 9, 1942 (age 75)
Artur Davis	2003–2011	(1967-10-09) October 9, 1967 (age 49)

Historic district boundaries[edit]

See also[edit]

• Alabama's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References[edit]

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Tennessee's 5th congressional district	Home district of the Speaker of the House June 4, 1936 – September 15, 1940	Succeeded by Texas's 4th congressional district