Tennessee's 7th congressional district
Tennessee's 7th congressional district | |||
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Representative |
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Population (2022) | 801,730[2] | ||
Median household income | $70,095[3] | ||
Ethnicity |
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Cook PVI | R+10[4] |
The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of
By most measures, Williamson County is the wealthiest county in the state and is usually ranked near the top nationally.[5]
The district has a very strong military presence, as it includes Tennessee's share of Fort Campbell. Politically speaking, the area was secessionist and part of the Democrats' "Solid South" for a century after the Civil War, excluding heavily Republican Unionist Highland Rim Wayne County. Starting with the election of Don Sundquist in 1983, this district has become one of the most Republican areas in Tennessee. The presence of Nashville's suburbs gives it a character similar to those of most affluent suburban districts in much of the South until the mid-2000s. It has a strong social conservative bent; many of the state's most politically active churches are either located here or draw most of their congregations from here.
The rural secessionist counties are similar demographically to the 8th district and returned to the Democrats until the 2000s; three of the five Tennessee counties won by George McGovern lie within this district. However, since the mid-2000s these counties have turned overwhelmingly Republican in all elections. The only area where Democrats currently compete on anything resembling an even basis is in Clarksville, which still occasionally elects Democrats to the state legislature.
Current boundaries
The district is located in both West and Middle Tennessee. It stretches as far north as the Kentucky border, as far south as the Alabama border, as far east as Franklin, and as far west as Camden.
It is currently composed of the following counties: Cheatham, Dickson, Decatur, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Montgomery, Perry, Robertson, Stewart, and Wayne. It also includes significant portions of Benton, Davidson, and Williamson.
Election results from statewide races
Results under old lines (2013–2023)
Year | Office | Result |
---|---|---|
2000 | President | George W. Bush 59% - Al Gore 40% |
2004 | President | George W. Bush 66% - John Kerry 33% |
2008 | President | John McCain 65% - Barack Obama 34% |
2012 | President | Mitt Romney 65% - Barack Obama 33% |
2016 | President | Donald Trump 67% - Hillary Clinton 28% |
2020 | President | Donald Trump 66% - Joe Biden 31% |
History
Districts stretching from Clarksville to West Tennessee have existed in one form or another since 1871. For most of the time from 1933 to 1983 (except for 1943 to 1953), it was numbered as the 6th district.
This district assumed something approaching its current configuration in 1973, when Tennessee lost a congressional district. At that time, the 6th was redrawn to stretch from Williamson County, south of Nashville, to the eastern suburbs of Memphis and covering the rural areas in between. Republican Robin Beard represented this area from 1973 to 1983.
Tennessee gained a congressional district following the 1980 census. At this time, the district was re-numbered as the 7th and lost its eastern counties to the 4th and 6th districts. At the same time, most of its black residents closer to Memphis were drawn into the 9th district. Following this re-districting, Beard made an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid, and was replaced by former Shelby County Republican Party chair Don Sundquist.
Sundquist served through the rest of the 1980s through the 1990 re-districting, which saw the district lose some of its rural counties while picking up Maury County. In 1994, Sundquist successfully ran for Governor of Tennessee, defeating future governor Phil Bredesen. Sundquist was then replaced by Ed Bryant. Bryant served from 1995 until 2002, when the district was gerrymandered by the Democrat-led Tennessee General Assembly to pack the consistently Republican suburbs of Nashville and Memphis into one district. The result was a district that was 200 miles (320 km) long, but only two miles (3.2 km) wide at some points in the Middle Tennessee portion. Following that re-districting, the area chose Brentwood-based state senator Marsha Blackburn. She served from 2003 to 2019.
Redistricting after the 2010 census made the district somewhat more compact, restoring a configuration similar to the 1983-2003 lines. However, it lost its share of the Memphis suburbs to the 8th, a move which made the 8th as heavily Republican as the 7th. In 2018, Blackburn
List of members representing the district
Name | Party | Years | Cong ress |
Electoral history |
---|---|---|---|---|
District established March 4, 1823 | ||||
Sam Houston (Nashville) |
Democratic-Republican
|
March 4, 1823 - March 4, 1825 | 18th 19th |
Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee. |
Jacksonian
|
March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1827 | |||
John Bell (Nashville) |
Jacksonian
|
March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1835 |
20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th |
U.S. Secretary of War .
|
Anti-Jacksonian
|
March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 | |||
Whig | March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841 | |||
Robert L. Caruthers (Lebanon) |
Whig
|
March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843 |
27th | Elected in 1841 .Retired. |
David W. Dickinson (Murfreesboro) |
Whig
|
March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845 |
28th | Elected in 1843 .Retired. |
Meredith P. Gentry (Franklin) |
Whig
|
March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1853 |
29th 30th 31st 32nd |
Re-elected in 1851 .Retired. |
Robert M. Bugg )
(Lynnville |
Whig
|
March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 |
33rd | Elected in 1853 .Retired. |
John V. Wright (Purdy) |
Democratic | March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861 |
34th 35th 36th |
Re-elected in 1859. seceded.
Could not seek re-election, as West Tennessee |
District inactive | March 4, 1861 – July 24, 1866 |
37th 38th 39th |
Civil War and Reconstruction | |
Isaac R. Hawkins (Huntingdon) |
Unionist | July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867 |
39th 40th 41st |
Re-elected in 1868 .Retired. |
Republican | March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1871 | |||
Robert P. Caldwell (Trenton) |
Democratic | March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873 |
42nd | Elected in 1870 .Lost renomination. |
John Atkins )
(Paris |
Democratic | March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875 |
43rd | Elected in 1872. Redistricted to the 8th district. |
Washington C. Whitthorne (Columbia) |
Democratic | March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883 |
44th 45th 46th 47th |
Re-elected in 1880 .Retired. |
John G. Ballentine (Pulaski) |
Democratic | March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887 |
48th 49th |
Re-elected in 1884 .Retired. |
Washington C. Whitthorne (Columbia) |
Democratic | March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1891 |
50th 51st |
Re-elected in 1888 .Retired. |
Nicholas N. Cox (Franklin) |
Democratic | March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1901 |
52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th |
Re-elected in 1898 .Retired. |
Lemuel P. Padgett (Columbia) |
Democratic | March 4, 1901 – August 2, 1922 |
57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th |
Re-elected in 1920 .Died. |
Vacant | August 2, 1922 – November 6, 1922 |
67th | ||
Clarence W. Turner (Waverly) |
Democratic | November 7, 1922 – March 3, 1923 |
Elected to finish Padgett's term. Retired. | |
William C. Salmon )
(Columbia |
Democratic | March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1925 |
68th | Elected in 1922 .Retired. |
Edward E. Eslick )
(Pulaski |
Democratic | March 4, 1925 – June 14, 1932 |
69th 70th 71st 72nd |
Re-elected in 1930 .Died. |
Vacant | June 14, 1932 – August 12, 1932 |
72nd | ||
Willa Eslick )
(Pulaski |
Democratic | August 13, 1932 – March 3, 1933 |
Elected to finish her husband's term .Retired. | |
Gordon Browning (Huntingdon) |
Democratic
|
March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935 |
73rd | re-elected in 1932. .
Retired to run for U.S. Senator |
Herron C. Pearson (Jackson) |
Democratic
|
January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943 |
74th 75th 76th 77th |
Re-elected in 1940 .Retired. |
W. Wirt Courtney (Franklin) |
Democratic
|
January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949 |
78th 79th 80th |
Re-elected in 1946 .Lost renomination. |
James P. Sutton (Lawrenceburg) |
Democratic | January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953 |
81st 82nd |
. |
Tom J. Murray (Jackson) |
Democratic
|
January 3, 1953 – December 30, 1966 |
83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th |
Re-elected in 1964 .Lost renomination and resigned early. |
Vacant | December 31, 1966 – January 2, 1967 |
89th | ||
Ray Blanton (Adamsville) |
Democratic
|
January 3, 1967– January 3, 1973 | 90th 91st 92nd |
Re-elected in 1970. .
Retired to run for U.S. Senator |
Ed Jones (Yorkville) |
Democratic
|
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983 |
93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th |
. |
Don Sundquist (Memphis) |
Republican | January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1995 |
98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd |
Re-elected in 1992. .
Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee |
Ed Bryant (Henderson) |
Republican | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003 |
104th 105th 106th 107th |
. |
Marsha Blackburn (Brentwood) |
Republican | January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2019 |
108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th |
Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Retired to run for U.S. Senator. |
Mark E. Green )
(Clarksville |
Republican | January 3, 2019 – present |
116th 117th 118th |
Elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022 Running for re-election. |
Historical district boundaries
See also
References
- ^ Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
- ^ "B03002: 2022 American Community Survey 1-year Estimates - Congressional District 7 (118th Congress), Tennessee". United States Census Bureau.
- ^ Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ "7. Williamson County, TN (Median household income: $104,367)". Forbes. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- 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