| Alabama's 7th congressional district | |
|---|---|
.svg)  Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2025 | |
| Representative | |
| Area | 8,780 mi2 (22,700 km2) |
| Distribution |
|
| Population (2024) | 718,912[2] |
| Median household income | $54,635[3] |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Cook PVI | D+13[4] |
Alabama's 7th congressional district is a United Statescongressional district inAlabama that elects a representative to theUnited States House of Representatives. The district encompassesChoctaw,Dallas,Greene,Hale,Lowndes,Marengo,Pickens,Perry,Sumter andWilcox counties, and portions ofClarke,Jefferson, andTuscaloosa counties. The district encompasses portions of theBirmingham,Montgomery andTuscaloosa/Northport urban areas. The largest city entirely within the district isSelma.
The district has beenmajority nonwhite, with a majority of African-American residents, since the redistricting following the1990 census. As such, and with aCook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+13, it is the most Democratic district in Alabama.[4] The district was adjusted due to the judicial selection of a new congressional map as a result of the caseAllen v. Milligan, with its share ofMontgomery and half ofClarke County shifted to the2nd district and a portion ofTuscaloosa County given to the 4th district. It is currently represented byDemocratTerri Sewell.
Alabama's 7th congressional district was first defined in 1843; it has continued since then with the exception of the years 1867–1873 during theReconstruction era. The geographic area represented by this district has changed over time, depending upon the number ofU.S. Representatives apportioned to Alabama. Around the turn of the 20th century, the district included the city ofGadsden. Over time, the district was redefined to include the area aroundTuscaloosa. 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 amajority-minority district under provisions of theVoting Rights Act of 1965, as amended in 1982 to encourage greater representation for minorities in Congress.[5] Half of the western Alabama portion of the district was moved to the4th district, and a large portion ofTuscaloosa County was moved into the6th district, which had primarily been based around Birmingham. To counter the loss in population and to create the majority-minority, many counties from theBlack 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 theInterstate 20/59 corridor intoJefferson County to take in most of the black precincts ofBirmingham. 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, andTerri 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 ofMontgomery County have been restored to this district, including large swaths of inner-cityMontgomery in the redistricting following the2010 census. This area had earlier been removed after the2000 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, theUniversity of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, and theUniversity 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.[6]
Democrats have represented the 7th district in all but 6 years since 1843.
For the119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following the Supreme Court's decision inAllen v. Milligan), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities.[7]
Hale County(4)
Jefferson County(32)
Marengo County(10)
Perry County(2)
The following chart shows the results of recent federal and statewide races in the 7th district.[8]
| 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% | |
| Secretary of State | Pamela Laffitte (D) | 61.6% | 36.4% | |
| Attorney General | Wendell Major (D) | 62.2% | 37.7% | |
| Redistricted for the 2024 cycle | ||||
| 2024 | President | Kamala Harris (D) | 61.3% | 37.4% |
These are the results from the previous twelve election cycles in Alabama's 7th district.[9]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Artur Davis | 153,735 | 92.44 | |
| Libertarian | Lauren Orth McCay | 12,100 | 7.28 | |
| Write-In | Write-ins | 474 | 0.29 | |
| Total votes | 166,309 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Artur Davis (Incumbent) | 183,408 | 74.97 | |
| Republican | Steve Cameron | 61,019 | 24.94 | |
| Write-In | Write-ins | 211 | 0.09 | |
| Total votes | 244,638 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Artur Davis (Incumbent) | 133,870 | 99.04 | |
| Write-In | Write-ins | 1,297 | 0.96 | |
| Total votes | 135,167 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Artur Davis (Incumbent) | 228,518 | 98.63 | |
| Write-In | Write-ins | 3,183 | 1.37 | |
| Total votes | 231,701 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell | 136,223 | 72.42 | |
| Republican | Don Chamberlain | 51,882 | 27.58 | |
| Total votes | 188,105 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (Incumbent) | 232,520 | 75.90 | |
| Republican | Don Chamberlain | 73,835 | 24.10 | |
| Total votes | 306,355 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (Incumbent) | 133,687 | 98.37 | |
| Write-in | 2,212 | 1.63 | ||
| Total votes | 135,899 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (Incumbent) | 229,330 | 98.41 | |
| Write-in | 3,698 | 1.59 | ||
| Total votes | 233,028 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (Incumbent) | 185,010 | 97.80 | |
| Write-in | 4,153 | 2.20 | ||
| Total votes | 189,163 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (incumbent) | 225,742 | 97.16 | |
| Write-in | 6,589 | 2.84 | ||
| Total votes | 232,331 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (incumbent) | 123,060 | 63.53 | |
| Republican | Beatrice Nichols | 67,353 | 34.77 | |
| Libertarian | Gavin Goodman | 3,207 | 1.66 | |
| Write-in | 79 | 0.04 | ||
| Total votes | 193,699 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Terri Sewell (incumbent) | 186,723 | 63.68 | ||
| Republican | Robin Litaker | 106,312 | 36.26 | ||
| Write-in | 185 | 0.06 | |||
| Total votes | 293,220 | 100.00 | |||
| Democratichold | |||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Home district of thespeaker of the House June 4, 1936 – September 15, 1940 | Succeeded by |
32°33′5.2″N87°52′17.04″W / 32.551444°N 87.8714000°W /32.551444; -87.8714000
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