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–Selma)
Area	8,780 sq mi (22,700 km2)
Distribution	72.16[1]% urban 27.84% rural
Population (2016)	665,630[2]
Median income	$34,664
Ethnicity	33.01% White 63.45% Black 1% Asian 2.61% Hispanic 0.16% Native American
Occupation	28.6% Blue-collar 53.4% White-collar 18% Gray-collar
Cook PVI	D+20[3]

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 nonwhite, 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

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.^[4] 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

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

List of representatives

Cong ress	Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history	Location
District created March 4, 1843.
28th 29th	Felix G. McConnell	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – September 10, 1846	Died.	[Data unknown/missing.]
29th	Vacant		September 10, 1846 – December 7, 1846
29th 30th 31st	Franklin W. Bowdon	Democratic	December 7, 1846 – March 3, 1851	[Data unknown/missing.]
32nd	Alexander White	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853	[Data unknown/missing.]
33rd	James F. Dowdell	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Redistricted to the 3rd congressional district.	[Data unknown/missing.]
34th	Sampson W. Harris	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	Redistricted from the 3rd congressional district.
35th 36th	Jabez L. M. Curry	Democratic	March 4, 1857 – January 21, 1861	Withdrew.
36th 37th	Vacant		January 21, 1861 – March 4, 1863	Members withdrew during the American Civil War.
District eliminated in 1863.
District re-established in 1877.
45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd	William H. Forney	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1893	Redistricted from the At-large district.	[Data unknown/missing.]
53rd	William H. Denson	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	[Data unknown/missing.]	[Data unknown/missing.]
54th 55th	Milford W. Howard	Populist	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899	[Data unknown/missing.]	[Data unknown/missing.]
56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th	John L. Burnett	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – May 13, 1919	Died.	[Data unknown/missing.]
66th	Vacant		May 13, 1919 – September 30, 1919	[Data unknown/missing.]
66th 67th	Lilius Bratton Rainey	Democratic	September 30, 1919 – March 3, 1923	[Data unknown/missing.]	[Data unknown/missing.]
68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Miles C. Allgood	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	Redistricted to the 5th congressional district.	[Data unknown/missing.]
73rd 74th 75th 76th	William B. Bankhead	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – September 15, 1940	Redistricted from the 10th congressional district. Died.	[Data unknown/missing.]
76th	Vacant		September 15, 1940 – November 5, 1940
76th	Zadoc L. Weatherford	Democratic	November 5, 1940 – January 3, 1941	Elected to finish William Bankhead's term. Retired.	[Data unknown/missing.]
77th	Walter W. Bankhead	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – February 1, 1941	First elected in 1940. Resigned.	[Data unknown/missing.]
77th	Vacant		February 1, 1941 – June 24, 1941
77th 78th 79th 80th	Carter Manasco	Democratic	June 24, 1941 – January 3, 1949	[Data unknown/missing.]	[Data unknown/missing.]
81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th	Carl Elliott	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1963	Redistricted to the At-large district.	[Data unknown/missing.]
88th	District inactive, all representatives elected At-large on a general ticket.		January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965	[Data unknown/missing.]
89th	James D. Martin	Republican	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967		[Data unknown/missing.]
90th 91st 92nd	Tom Bevill	Democratic	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973		Redistricted to the 4th congressional district.
93rd 92nd 95th	Walter Flowers	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979	Redistricted from the 5th congressional district.	[Data unknown/missing.]
96th 97th 98th 99th	Richard C. Shelby	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1987	Elected to U.S. Senate.	[Data unknown/missing.]
100th 101st 102nd	Claude Harris, Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993	Retired.	[Data unknown/missing.]
103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th	Earl Hilliard	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003	First elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Lost renomination.	[Data unknown/missing.]
108th 109th 110th 111th	Artur Davis	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011	First elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Retired to run for Governor.	2003–2013
112th 113th 114th 115th	Terri Sewell	Democratic	January 3, 2011 – present	First elected in 2010.
				Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016.	2013–Present

Recent election results

Living former Members

As of October 2017, there are three former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from this district who are living.

See also

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

References

• 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