Tennessee's 7th congressional district

The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of Middle and West Tennessee. It has been represented by Republican Mark E. Green since January 2019. The seventh district has significant suburban and rural areas. Although most of the area is rural, more than half of the district's vote is cast in either Montgomery County (Clarksville) or Williamson County (Franklin, Brentwood).

Tennessee's 7th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative	Mark Green R–Clarksville
Distribution	50.71% urban^[1] 49.29% rural
Population (2022)	801,730^[2]
Median household income	$70,095^[2]
Ethnicity	81.0% White 10.0% Black 4.7% Hispanic 2.0% Two or more races 1.8% Asian 0.5% other
Cook PVI	R+10^[3]

By most measures, Williamson County is the wealthiest county in the state and is usually ranked near the top nationally.^[4]

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. However, since being carried by George Wallace in 1968 it has become and remained one of the most Republican areas in Tennessee, and has not been represented by a Democrat since the early 1970s. 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 successfully ran for US Senate, defeating former governor Phil Bredesen. In the concurrent election, the district selected doctor and former state senator Mark E. Green.

List of members representing the district

Name	Party	Years	Cong ress	District residence	Electoral history
District established March 4, 1823
Sam Houston	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 - March 4, 1825	18th 19th	Lebanon	Elected in 1823. Re-elected in 1825. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee.
	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1827
John Bell	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1835	20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th	Nashville	Elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. Re-elected in 1831. Re-elected in 1833. Re-elected in 1835. Re-elected in 1837. Re-elected in 1839. Retired to become U.S. Secretary of War.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841
Robert L. Caruthers	Whig	March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843	27th	Lebanon	Elected in 1841. Retired.
David W. Dickinson	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	Murfreesboro	Elected in 1843. Retired.
Meredith P. Gentry	Whig	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1853	29th 30th 31st 32nd	Franklin	Elected in 1845. Re-elected in 1847. Re-elected in 1849. Re-elected in 1851. Retired.
Robert M. Bugg	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	Giles County	Elected in 1853. Retired.
John V. Wright	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861	34th 35th 36th	Purdy	Elected in 1855. Re-elected in 1857. Re-elected in 1859. Could not seek re-election, as West Tennessee seceded.
District inactive		March 4, 1861 – July 24, 1866	37th 38th 39th	Civil War and Reconstruction
Isaac R. Hawkins	Unionist	July 24, 1866 – March 3, 1867	39th 40th 41st	Huntingdon	Elected in 1865. Re-elected in 1867. Re-elected in 1868. Retired.
	Republican	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1871
Robert P. Caldwell	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	Trenton	Elected in 1870. Lost renomination.
John Atkins	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	43rd	Paris	Elected in 1872. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Washington C. Whitthorne	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1883	44th 45th 46th 47th	Columbia	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1874. Re-elected in 1876. Re-elected in 1878. Re-elected in 1880. Retired.
John G. Ballentine	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887	48th 49th	Pulaski	Elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Retired.
Washington C. Whitthorne	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1891	50th 51st	Columbia	Elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Retired.
Nicholas N. Cox	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1901	52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th	Franklin	Elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Retired.
Lemuel P. Padgett	Democratic	March 4, 1901 – August 2, 1922	57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th	Columbia	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. Re-elected in 1920. Died.
Vacant		August 2, 1922 – November 6, 1922	67th
Clarence W. Turner	Democratic	November 7, 1922 – March 3, 1923		Waverly	Elected to finish Padgett's term. Retired.
William C. Salmon	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1925	68th	Columbia	Elected in 1922. Retired.
Edward E. Eslick	Democratic	March 4, 1925 – June 14, 1932	69th 70th 71st 72nd	Pulaski	Elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Died.
Vacant		June 14, 1932 – August 12, 1932	72nd
Willa Eslick	Democratic	August 13, 1932 – March 3, 1933		Pulaski	Elected to finish her husband's term. Retired.
Gordon Browning	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935	73rd	Huntingdon	Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1932. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Herron C. Pearson	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1943	74th 75th 76th 77th	Jackson	Elected in 1934. Re-elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Retired.
W. Wirt Courtney	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1949	78th 79th 80th	Franklin	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Lost renomination.
James P. Sutton	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1953	81st 82nd	Wartrace	Elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Redistricted to the 6th district.
Tom J. Murray	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – December 30, 1966	83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th	Jackson	Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Lost renomination and resigned early.
Vacant		December 31, 1966 – January 2, 1967	89th
Ray Blanton	Democratic	January 3, 1967– January 3, 1973	90th 91st 92nd	Adamsville	Elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Ed Jones	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	Yorkville	Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Don Sundquist	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1995	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd	Memphis	Elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Retired to run for Governor of Tennessee.
Ed Bryant	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003	104th 105th 106th 107th	Henderson	Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Marsha Blackburn	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2019	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th	Brentwood	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	Republican	January 3, 2019 – present	116th 117th 118th	Ashland City	Elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022

Historical district boundaries

 

2003–2013

 

2013–2023

See also

•  United States portal

• Tennessee's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. . www.census.gov. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
2. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
3. "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
4. "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

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