Alabama's 7th congressional district

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, 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. As such, and with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+13, it is the most Democratic district in Alabama. The district was adjusted due to the judicial selection of a new congressional map as a result of the case Allen v. Milligan, with its share of Montgomery and half of Clarke County shifted to the 2nd district and a portion of Tuscaloosa County given to the 4th district. It is currently represented by Democrat Terri Sewell.

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 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. 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. Alabama's 7th Congressional district is a good example of a state that has experienced partisan gerrymandering over the last decade. In the 2010 redistricting cycle, Republicans drew district lines to pack together several major Democratic communities into a single district, ensuring that Democrats were only elected to one seat. Alabama's District 7 reaches into several other districts' regions to pick out Democratic voters. The 7th district is the most gerrymandered in the state.

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

Counties and communities For the 119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following the Supreme Court's decision in Allen v. Milligan), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities.https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd119/cd_based/ST01/CD119_AL07.pdf

Choctaw County (8)

All eight communities

Clarke County (6)

Coffeeville, Fulton, Grove Hill, Jackson (part; also 2nd), Thomasville, Whatley

Dallas County (4)

All four communities

Greene County (4)

All four communities

Hale County (4)

All four communities

Jefferson County (32)

Adamsville, Bessemer, Birmingham (part; also 6th), Brighton, Brookside, Cardiff, Center Point (part; also 6th), Concord, Edgewater, Fairfield, Forestdale, Fultondale (part; also 6th), Graysville (part; also 6th), Helena (part; also 6th; shared with Shelby County), Homewood (part; also 6th), Hoover (part; also 6th; shared with Shelby County), Hueytown, Irondale (part; also 6th), Lake View (shared with Tuscaloosa County), Lipscomb, Maytown, McCalla, McDonald Chapel, Midfield, Minor, Mulga, North Johns, Pleasant Grove, Rock Creek, Sylvan Springs, Tarrant, West Jefferson

Lowndes County (7)

All seven communities

Marengo County (10)

All 10 communities

Perry County (2)

Marion, Uniontown

Pickens County (9)

All nine communities

Sumter County (9)

All nine communities

Tuscaloosa County (9)

Brookwood, Coaling, Cottondale, Holt (part; also 4th), Lake View (shared with Jefferson County), Moundville (shared with Hale County), Tuscaloosa (part; also 4th), Vance (part; also 6th; shared with Bibb County), Woodstock (part; also 6th; shared with Bibb County)

Wilcox County (7)

All seven communities

Recent election results from statewide races The following chart shows the results of recent federal and statewide races in the 7th district.

Year Office Winner D % R % 2012 President Barack Obama (D) 72.5% 27.0% 2016 President Hillary Clinton (D) 69.2% 28.5% Senate Ron Crumpton (D) 69.2% 30.7% 2017 Senate (special) Doug Jones (D) 79.4% 19.9% 2018 Governor Walt Maddox (D) 72.5% 27.4% Lieutenant Governor Will Boyd (D) 72.2% 27.7% Attorney General Joseph Siegelman (D) 73.5% 26.5% 2020 President Joe Biden (D) 70.7% 28.3% Senate Doug Jones (D) 72.7% 27.2% Redistricted for the 2022 cycle 2022 Senate Will Boyd (D) 61.1% 37.2% Governor Yolanda Flowers (D) 59.9% 37.4% Attorney General Wendell Major (D) 62.2% 37.7% Secretary of State Pamela Laffitte (D) 61.6% 36.4% Redistricted for the 2024 cycle 2024 President Kamala Harris (D) 61.3% 37.4%

List of members representing the district Member Party Years Congress Electoral history Location District created March 4, 1843 Felix Grundy McConnell Democratic March 4, 1843 –September 10, 1846 Elected in 1843.Re-elected in 1845.Died. 1843–1853 Vacant September 10, 1846 –December 7, 1846 Franklin Welsh Bowdon Democratic December 7, 1846 –March 3, 1851 Elected to finish McConnell's term.Re-elected in 1847.Re-elected in 1849.Retired. Alexander White Whig March 4, 1851 –March 3, 1853 Elected in 1851.Retired. James Ferguson Dowdell Democratic March 4, 1853 –March 3, 1855 Elected in 1853.Redistricted to the . 1853–1863 Sampson Willis Harris Democratic March 4, 1855 –March 3, 1857 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1855.Retired. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry Democratic March 4, 1857 –January 21, 1861 Elected in 1857.Re-elected in 1859.Withdrew due to Civil War. Vacant January 21, 1861 –March 3, 1863 Members withdrew during the American Civil War. District eliminated in 1863 and re-established in 1877 William H. Forney Democratic March 4, 1877 –March 3, 1893 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1876.Re-elected in 1878.Re-elected in 1880.Re-elected in 1882.Re-elected in 1884.Re-elected in 1886.Re-elected in 1888.Re-elected in 1890.Retired. 1877–1893 William Henry Denson Democratic March 4, 1893 –March 3, 1895 Elected in 1892.Lost renomination. 1893–1903 Milford W. Howard Populist March 4, 1895 –March 3, 1899 Elected in 1894.Re-elected in 1896.Retired. John L. Burnett Democratic March 4, 1899 –May 13, 1919 Elected in 1898.Re-elected in 1900.Re-elected in 1902.Re-elected in 1904.Re-elected in 1906.Re-elected in 1908.Re-elected in 1910.Re-elected in 1912.Re-elected in 1914.Re-elected in 1916.Re-elected in 1918.Died. 1913–1933 Vacant May 13, 1919 –September 30, 1919 Lilius Bratton Rainey Democratic September 30, 1919 –March 3, 1923 Elected to finish Burnett's term.Re-elected in 1920.Retired. Miles C. Allgood Democratic March 4, 1923 –March 3, 1933 Elected in 1922.Re-elected in 1924.Re-elected in 1926.Re-elected in 1928.Re-elected in 1930.Redistricted to the . William B. Bankhead Democratic March 4, 1933 –September 15, 1940 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1932.Re-elected in 1934.Re-elected in 1936.Re-elected in 1938.Died. 1933–1943 Vacant September 15, 1940 –November 5, 1940 Zadoc L. Weatherford Democratic November 5, 1940 –January 3, 1941 Elected to finish William Bankhead's term.Retired. Walter W. Bankhead Democratic January 3, 1941 –February 1, 1941 Elected in 1940.Resigned. Vacant February 1, 1941 –June 24, 1941 Carter Manasco Democratic June 24, 1941 –January 3, 1949 Elected to finish Walter Bankhead's term.Re-elected in 1942.Re-elected in 1944.Re-elected in 1946.Lost renomination. Carl Elliott Democratic January 3, 1949 –January 3, 1963 Elected in 1948.Re-elected in 1950.Re-elected in 1952.Re-elected in 1954.Re-elected in 1956.Re-elected in 1958.Re-elected in 1960.Redistricted to the . 1953–1963 District inactive January 3, 1963 –January 3, 1965 All representatives elected on a general ticket. James D. Martin Republican January 3, 1965 –January 3, 1967 Elected in 1964.Retired to run for Governor. 1965–1973 Tom Bevill Democratic January 3, 1967 –January 3, 1973 Elected in 1966.Re-elected in 1968.Re-elected in 1970.Redistricted to the . Walter Flowers Democratic January 3, 1973 –January 3, 1979 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1972.Re-elected in 1974.Re-elected in 1976.Retired to run for U.S. Senator. 1973–1983 Richard Shelby Democratic January 3, 1979 –January 3, 1987 Elected in 1978.Re-elected in 1980.Re-elected in 1982.Re-elected in 1984.Retired to run for U.S. senator. 1983–1993 Claude Harris Jr. Democratic January 3, 1987 –January 3, 1993 Elected in 1986.Re-elected in 1988.Re-elected in 1990.Retired. Earl Hilliard Democratic January 3, 1993 –January 3, 2003 Elected in 1992.Re-elected in 1994.Re-elected in 1996.Re-elected in 1998.Re-elected in 2000.Lost renomination. 1993–2003 Artur Davis Democratic January 3, 2003 –January 3, 2011 Elected in 2002.Re-elected in 2004.Re-elected in 2006.Re-elected in 2008.Retired to run for Governor. 2003–2013 Terri Sewell Democratic January 3, 2011 –present Elected in 2010.Re-elected in 2012.Re-elected in 2014.Re-elected in 2016.Re-elected in 2018.Re-elected in 2020.Re-elected in 2022.Re-elected in 2024. 2013–2023 2023–2025 2025–present

Recent election results These are the results from the previous twelve election cycles in Alabama's 7th district.

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Alabama's 7th congressional district

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