The 7th congressional district of South Carolina is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, established in 2011 following apportionment of another seat to the state following the 2010 census. It is located in the

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, a Native American tribe that historically inhabited the region. His ...

region, and includes all of

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Dillon Dillon may refer to: People *Dillon (surname) *Dillon (given name) * Dillon (singer) (born 1988), Brazilian singer *Viscount Dillon, a title in the Peerage of Ireland Places Canada *Dillon, Saskatchewan United States *Dillon Beach, California ...

, Georgetown, Horry,

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

, and Marlboro Counties and parts of Florence County. The first US representative from this new district,

Tom Rice Hugh Thompson Rice Jr. (born August 4, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . The district serves most of the northeastern corner of the state and includes Myrtle Beach, the Grand Strand, Florence ...

, was elected in 2012 and took office on January 3, 2013.

History

The 7th congressional district of South Carolina existed in the 19th century, but was eliminated in 1853 as a result of the 1850 census. After the

1880 census The United States census of 1880 conducted by the Census Bureau during June 1880 was the tenth United States census.Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

had ended and the state legislature was controlled by Democrats, who wrested control by a mixture of violence and fraud. They defined the boundaries of the 7th district, which was called the "shoestring district" because of its long, narrow shape that included many black precincts. In 1892 and 1894 the majority-black voters of the district elected

George W. Murray George Washington Murray (September 22, 1853 – April 21, 1926), born into slavery in South Carolina, gained education and worked as a teacher, farmer and politician. After serving as chairman of the Sumter County Republican Party, he was ele ...

to Congress; he was the only African American to serve in Congress in those sessions and, following disfranchisement and demographic changes, the last elected from the state until Jim Clyburn in 1992. In 1895, the Democrat-dominated state legislature passed a new constitution, disfranchising black voters by changes to voter registration and electoral rules that were applied against them in a discriminatory way. For decades after 1896, only white Democrats were elected to Congress from the state. (Such disfranchisement occurred among all the states of the former Confederacy, and their use of poll taxes,

literacy tests A literacy test assesses a person's literacy skills: their ability to read and write have been administered by various governments, particularly to immigrants. In the United States, between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were administered t ...

grandfather clauses A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

, and

white primaries White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Statewide white primaries were established by the state Democratic Party units or by state legislatures in South Ca ...

survived several US Supreme Court challenges.) During the first half of the 20th century, 6.5 million blacks in total left South Carolina and other southern states in the Great Migration to the North, Midwest and West. Following cumulative declines in state population, after the

1930 census The United States census of 1930, conducted by the Census Bureau one month from April 1, 1930, determined the resident population of the United States to be 122,775,046, an increase of 13.7 percent over the 106,021,537 persons enumerated during ...

, South Carolina lost a seat and the 7th district was eliminated in redistricting. It was last represented by Democrat

Hampton P. Fulmer Hampton Pitts Fulmer (June 23, 1875 – October 19, 1944) was an American politician of the Democratic Party. He represented South Carolina in the United States House of Representatives from 1921 – October 19, 1944. After his death, his wif ...

, who was redistricted into the 2nd district. South Carolina had only six districts for the next 80 years. African Americans were effectively barred from voting until after passage of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. Increases in population led to the state's receiving another congressional seat following the 2010 census. The 7th district is located in the rapidly developing area of northeastern South Carolina, including the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area (the Grand Strand) and the

region. It is a white-majority district and its voters elected Republican

as US Representative from the district in 2012; he took office in January 2013, when the 113th Congress convened. Due almost entirely to the presence of heavily Republican

Horry County Horry County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 351,029. It is the fourth-most populous county in South Carolina. The county seat is Conway. Horry County is the central ...

, which has as many people as the rest of the district combined, it tilts Republican. The district boundaries are roughly similar to the configuration of the 6th congressional district before it was reconfigured after the 1990 census as a black-majority district.

Counties

Counties in the 2023-2033 district map. * Chesterfield County * Darlington County * Dillon County * Florence County (part) *

Georgetown County Georgetown County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 63,404. Its county seat is Georgetown. The county was founded in 1769. It is named for George III of the United Kingdom. Georg ...

* Marion County * Marlboro County

Election results from presidential races

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Carolina's 7th Congressional District 07