Tennessee's 7th congressional district

The 7th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district located in the middle and southwestern parts of the state, connecting suburbs of Nashville to rural areas east of Memphis.

Marsha Blackburn, a Republican and the first-ever Tennessee woman not to serve as a stand-in for her husband in Congress, assumed the 7th District's seat in 2003.

History

The district's current configuration dates from 1983, when Tennessee gained a district as a result of the 1980 Census. At that time, large portions of the old 6th District were shifted to the 4th and 9th districts, and the remaining territory of the old 6th was renumbered the 7th. Prior to the reapportionment that resulted from the 2000 Census, the district's boundaries generally coincided with county lines,^[2] but in Middle Tennessee, the 7th district's geography resembled a gerrymander. The result was a district that was 200 miles long, but only two miles wide at some points in the Middle Tennessee portion--roughly the width of a highway lane. Redistricting after the 2010 census made the district somewhat more compact, restoring a configuration similar to the 1983-2003 lines.

The 7th is a very safe seat for the Republican Party. In fact, it has long been reckoned as the state's most Republican area outside the party's traditional heartland in East Tennessee. Democrats have made only two serious bids for the district since it took on its current form in 1983, and came within single digits only once. Most of the district's residents have not been represented by a Democrat since 1973. Even though the district lost its share of Memphis and eastern Shelby County, which had been part of the district and its predecessors since 1973, its conservative character remains unchanged.

The district's politics are dominated by the wealthy suburbs of Nashville, such as Brentwood, Franklin and Spring Hill. These areas boast some of the highest median incomes in the state, and have swelled with former Nashville residents since the late 1960s. They give the 7th a character similar to other highly affluent suburban districts in the South (e.g., those around Birmingham, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston and Atlanta). Many of the state's most politically active churches are located in the suburban areas of the district, giving the 7th a strong social conservative bent typical of most affluent Southern suburban districts. Republicans dominate every level of government in the suburban areas, which tend to elect some of Tennessee's most conservative state legislators. The only area where Democrats compete on anything resembling an even basis is the largest city wholly in the district, Clarksville, which long elected Democrats to the state legislature.

The rural areas of the district are demographically similar to the rural portions of the 8th, and mostly sent Democrats to the General Assembly as late as 2010. However, most of the Democrats in the 7th's rural areas are as conservative on social issues as their suburban counterparts. They have long been more willing to support Republicans at the national level than their counterparts in the 8th. Many of the rural counties now in the district, for instance, voted overwhelmingly for George Wallace's (then governor of nearby Alabama) 1968 presidential candidacy, making Tennessee the strongest-performing state for him that he did not win.

The district has a very strong military presence, as it includes Tennessee's share of Fort Campbell.

List of representatives

Name	Years'	Party	District Residence	Notes
District created March 4, 1823
Sam Houston	March 4, 1823 - March 3, 1825	Jacksonian D-R	Lebanon
	March 4, 1825 - March 3, 1827	Jacksonian		Elected Governor of Tennessee
John Bell	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1835	Jacksonian	Nashville	Appointed as U.S. Secretary of War
	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837	Anti-Jacksonian
	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841	Whig
Robert L. Caruthers	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	Whig	Lebanon	Did not seek re-election
David W. Dickinson	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	Whig	Murfreesboro	Did not seek re-election
Meredith P. Gentry	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1853	Whig	Franklin	Did not seek re-election
Robert M. Bugg	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	Whig	Giles County	Did not seek re-election
John V. Wright	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861	Democratic	Purdy	Secession of Tennessee
American Civil War
Isaac R. Hawkins	July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867	Unionist	Huntingdon	Did not seek re-election
	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1871	Republican
Robert P. Caldwell	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	Democratic	Trenton	Defeated for renomination
John Atkins	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	Democratic	Paris	Redistricted to 8th district
Washington C. Whitthorne	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	Democratic	Columbia	Redistricted from 6th district, Did not seek re-election
John G. Ballentine	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	Democratic	Pulaski	Did not seek re-election
Washington C. Whitthorne	March 4, 1887– March 3, 1891	Democratic	Columbia	Did not seek re-election
Nicholas N. Cox	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1901	Democratic	Franklin	Did not seek re-election
Lemuel P. Padgett	March 4, 1901 – August 2, 1922	Democratic	Columbia	Died
Vacant	August 2, 1922 – November 6, 1922
Clarence W. Turner	November 7, 1922 – March 3, 1923	Democratic	Waverly	Served remainder of term as caretaker
William C. Salmon	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1925	Democratic	Columbia	Did not seek re-election
Edward E. Eslick	March 4, 1925 – June 14, 1932	Democratic	Pulaski	Died
Vacant	June 14, 1932 – August 12, 1932
Willa Eslick	August 13, 1932 – March 3, 1933	Democratic	Pulaski	Served remainder of term as caretaker
Gordon Browning	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	Democratic	Huntingdon	Redistricted from 8th district, Ran for U.S. Senate
Herron C. Pearson	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943	Democratic	Jackson	Did not seek re-election
W. Wirt Courtney	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949	Democratic	Franklin	Redistricted from 6th district, Defeated for renomination
James P. Sutton	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	Democratic	Wartrace	Redistricted to 6th district
Tom J. Murray	January 3, 1953 – December 30, 1966	Democratic	Jackson	Redistricted from 8th district, Defeated for renomination and resigned
Vacant	December 31, 1966 – January 2, 1967
Ray Blanton	January 3, 1967– January 3, 1973	Democratic	Adamsville	Ran for U.S. Senate
Ed Jones	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	Democratic	Yorkville	Redistricted from 8th district, Redistricted to 8th district
Don Sundquist	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1995	Republican	Memphis	Redistricted from the 6th District, elected Governor
Ed Bryant	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003	Republican	Henderson	Ran for U.S. Senate
Marsha Blackburn	January 3, 2003 – present	Republican	Brentwood	Incumbent

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

• Tennessee'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

Coordinates: 35°38′02″N 87°49′59″W / 35.63389°N 87.83306°W / 35.63389; -87.83306