Michigan's 1st congressional district is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 ...

containing the entire Upper Peninsula of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and 16 counties of Northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula. The district is currently represented by Republican

Jack Bergman John Warren "Jack" Bergman (born February 2, 1947) is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 1st congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Republi ...

Geography

The district is the second-largest congressional district east of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

by land area, only behind

Maine's 2nd congressional district Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering , it comprises nearly 80% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metro ...

. Its boundaries contain the entire

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

and much of the northern part of the Lower Peninsula. Altogether, the district makes up about 44% of the land area of the state of Michigan, it only contains 7% of the state's population. It contains the second-longest shoreline of any district in the United States, behind Alaska's at-large congressional district. Of the 83 counties in Michigan, 31 lie fully within the district, and it contains a portion of another, Mason County.

History

Prior to 1992, the 1st congressional district was a Detroit-based congressional district. From the election of Republican

John B. Sosnowski John Bartholomew Sosnowski (December 8, 1883 – July 16, 1968) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Sosnowski was born in a Polish family in Detroit, Michigan, and attended the parochial and Army schools. During the Spanish–Ameri ...

in 1925 until 1964, the former 1st district was represented by only one non-

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

politician,

Robert H. Clancy Robert Henry Clancy (March 14, 1882 – April 23, 1962) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Clancy was born in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended the public schools. He graduated from the literary department of the University ...

. Along with Sosnowski, 6 Polish-Americans served as the 1st district's representatives elected 7 times, since 1925. The other strong Polish Michigan congressional districts were the 15th district (where half of the elected were Polish-American) and the dissolved 16th district (where all three elected representatives were of Polish descent). In 1964, the 1st congressional district was drawn as a new, African-American majority district reflecting the changing demographics of Detroit, while enough of the old 1st district was moved to the 14th district so that the 14th district retained the 1st's old congressman.

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...

was elected to congress from the 1st district, a position he would hold until the 1st was removed from Detroit. After 1992, the 1st district covered land in the UP and Northern Michigan. Most of this territory had been in what is now the

11th district 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

from 1892 to 1992. The 1st from 1992 to 2002 was similar to the present district, except that it did not extend nearly as far south along

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

, while it took in Traverse City and some surrounding areas on the west side of the state.

Voting

Major cities in the district

* Alpena *

Calumet Calumet may refer to: Places United States *Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana **Calumet River **Calumet Trail, Indiana ** Calumet (East Chicago) * Calumet, Colorado *Calumet, Iowa * Calumet, Michigan *Calumet, Minnesota * Calumet ...

* Cheboygan * Escanaba *

Gaylord Gaylord is a name of Norman French origin, from the Old French ''gaillard'' meaning "joyful" or "high-spirited". It may refer to: People *Gaylord (given name) Surname *Bill Gaylord (born 1967), British former alpine skier *Charles Gaylord (1936 ...

* Iron Mountain *

Ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in E ...

Ishpeming Ishpeming ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,470 at the 2010 census, less than it was in the 1950s and 1960s when the iron ore mines employed more workers. A statue of ...

* Hancock * Houghton * Kingsford * Manistee * Marquette * Menominee * Petoskey *

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie is a cross-border region of Canada and the United States located on St. Marys River, which drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron. Founded as a single settlement in 1668, Sault Ste. Marie was divided in 1817 by the establishment of ...

* Traverse City

List of members representing the district

Elections

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

Notes

References

Govtrack.us for the 1st District
- Lists current Senators and representative, and map showing district outline

* ttp://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(bh0gg4454mkrpj55i03lixvj))/documents/publications/manual/2003-2004/2003-mm-0606-0624-USRep.pdf U.S. Representatives 1837–2003 Michigan Manual 2003–2004 * *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

Rep. Jack Bergman's official House of Representatives website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michigan's 1st Congressional District 01 Upper Peninsula of Michigan Northern Michigan Constituencies established in 1843 1843 establishments in Michigan