| State: | Alabama |
| District Number: | 7 |
| Image Caption: | Interactive map of district boundaries |
| Representative: | Terri Sewell |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Birmingham |
| English Area: | 8,780 |
| Distribution Ref: | [1] |
| Percent Urban: | 72.16 |
| Percent Rural: | 27.84 |
| Population: | 716,121[2] |
| Population Year: | 2022 |
| Median Income: | $45,784[3] |
| Percent White: | 36.3 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 4.2 |
| Percent Black: | 55.5 |
| Percent Asian: | 1.1 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 2.3 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.5 |
| Cpvi: | D+14[4] |
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. As such, and with a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+14, it is the only Democratic district in Alabama.[4] However, the district is set to be 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 to be shifted to the 2nd district and a portion of Tuscaloosa County is given to the 4th district. It is currently represented by Democrat Terri 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 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.[5] 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.[6]
Democrats have represented the 7th district in all but 6 years since 1843.
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% |
| 2016 | President | Clinton 64.1 - 33.5% |
| Senate | Crumpton 64.0 - 35.9% | |
| 2017 | Senate | Jones 75.4 - 23.7% |
| 2018 | Governor | Maddox 67.9 - 32.0% |
| 2020 | President | Biden 65.5 - 33.4% |
| Senate | Jones 67.7% - 32.2% | |
| 2022 | Governor | Flowers 59.9 - 37.4% |
| Senate | Boyd 61.1 - 37.2% |
| Year | Office | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | President | Clinton 61.6 - 35.6% |
| Senate | Crumpton 61.8 - 38.1% | |
| 2017 | Senate | Jones 74.2 - 24.8% |
| 2018 | Governor | Maddox 66.6 - 33.3% |
| 2020 | President | Biden 63.9 - 34.9% |
| Senate | Jones 66.2% - 33.7% | |
| 2022 | Governor | Flowers 58.3 - 38.6% |
| Senate | Boyd 59.9 - 38.2% |
| Member | Party | Years | Cong ress | Electoral history | Location | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created March 4, 1843 | ||||||||
| align=left | Felix Grundy McConnell | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1843 – September 10, 1846 | Elected in 1843. Re-elected in 1845. Died. | 1843–1853 | ||
| Vacant | nowrap | September 10, 1846 – December 7, 1846 | ||||||
| align=left | Franklin Welsh Bowdon | Democratic | nowrap | December 7, 1846 – March 3, 1851 | Elected to finish McConnell's term. Re-elected in 1847. Re-elected in 1849. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Alexander White | Whig | nowrap | March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853 | Elected in 1851. Retired. | |||
| align=left | James Ferguson Dowdell | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855 | Elected in 1853. Redistricted to the . | 1853–1863 | ||
| align=left | Sampson Willis Harris | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1855. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1857 – January 21, 1861 | Elected in 1857. Re-elected in 1859. Withdrew due to Civil War. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | January 21, 1861 – March 3, 1863 | Members withdrew during the American Civil War. | |||||
| District eliminated in 1863 and re-established in 1877 | ||||||||
| align=left | William H. Forney | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | ||
| align=left | William Henry Denson | Democratic | nowrap | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895 | Elected in 1892. Lost renomination. | 1893–1903 | ||
| align=left | Milford W. Howard | Populist | nowrap | March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899 | Elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Retired. | |||
| align=left rowspan=2 | 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 | nowrap | May 13, 1919 – September 30, 1919 | ||||||
| align=left | Lilius Bratton Rainey | Democratic | nowrap | September 30, 1919 – March 3, 1923 | Elected to finish Burnett's term. Re-elected in 1920. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Miles C. Allgood | Democratic | nowrap | 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 . | |||
| align=left | William B. Bankhead | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | nowrap | September 15, 1940 – November 5, 1940 | ||||||
| align=left | Zadoc L. Weatherford | Democratic | nowrap | November 5, 1940 – January 3, 1941 | Elected to finish William Bankhead's term. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Walter W. Bankhead | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1941 – February 1, 1941 | Elected in 1940. Resigned. | |||
| Vacant | nowrap | February 1, 1941 – June 24, 1941 | ||||||
| align=left | Carter Manasco | Democratic | nowrap | 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. | |||
| align=left | Carl Elliott | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | nowrap | January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 | All representatives elected on a general ticket. | |||||
| align=left | James D. Martin | Republican | nowrap | January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967 | Elected in 1964. Retired to run for Governor. | 1965–1973 | ||
| align=left | Tom Bevill | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973 | Elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Redistricted to the . | |||
| align=left | Walter Flowers | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | ||
| align=left | Richard Shelby | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | ||
| align=left | Claude Harris Jr. | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1993 | Elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Retired. | |||
| align=left | Earl Hilliard | Democratic | nowrap | 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 | ||
| align=left | Artur Davis | Democratic | nowrap | 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. | |||||
| 2013–2023 | ||||||||
| 2023–2025 | ||||||||
| 2025–present --> | ||||||||
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2002.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2006.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2008.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2010.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2012.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2014.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2016.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2018.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2020.
See main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 2022.