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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
comprises a small area of western Harris County. As of the 2000
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
, the 7th district comprises 651,620 people. Since 2019, it has been represented by Democrat
Lizzie Fletcher
Elizabeth Ann Fletcher (née Pannill; born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Texas. A Democrat, she represents in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes much of western Hou ...
. One of the wealthiest districts in the state, the 7th district includes wealthy enclaves of western
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
, ten incorporated suburbs and large areas of unincorporated suburbs. The district’s best known congressman was George H. W. Bush, who later became the 41st
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
Hedwig Village
Hedwig Village is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,370 at the 2020 census.
History
The Spring Branch Memorial area was originally settled by German immigrants in the 19th century. Hedwig Village's name originat ...
Jersey Village
Jersey Village is a city in west-central Harris County, Texas, United States, located at U.S. Highway 290, Farm to Market Road 529, and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The city is located in the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. ...
Southside Place
Southside Place is a city in west central Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,835 at the 2020 census.
As of the 2000 census, Southside Place was the 13th Texas locations by per capita income, wealthiest ...
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
History
Texas received a seventh congressional district through
reapportionment
Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionme ...
in 1881 as a result of population growth reflected in the
1880 Census
The United States census of 1880 conducted by the Census Bureau during June 1880 was the tenth United States census.Thomas P. Ochiltree, an Independent, was elected its first representative. From 1882 to 1902 the district was located in north central Texas and was represented by Wacoan Robert L. Henry. After the redistricting of 1902, the district shifted eastward and was represented by Congressmen from Palestine and Galveston. After 1952, the district again shifted to Waco. From 1885 to 1966, the seventh congressional district elected only Democratic representatives to Congress.
In 1966 the district, then represented by John Dowdy of Waco, was redrawn after the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ruled in '' Wesberry v. Sanders'' two years earlier that congressional district populations had to be equal or close to equal in population. As a result, the old 7th essentially became the new 2nd district, while a new 7th was created in the western portion of Harris County, home to
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
. Previously, Harris County had been divided between the 8th and 22nd congressional districts. The new 7th stretched from downtown Houston through its fast-growing west side (including the Memorial Villages) out to what were then mostly rural western sections of Harris County including the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, the Katy Prairie and FM 1960. These were among the first areas of Greater Houston to turn Republican as Texas began to gradually shift towards the GOP.
The mid-decade redistricting resulted in the election of George H. W. Bush, a former Chairman of the Harris County Republican Party and the son of former Connecticut U.S. Senator
Prescott Bush
Prescott Sheldon Bush (May 15, 1895 – October 8, 1972) was an American banker as a Wall Street executive investment banker, he represented Connecticut in the from 1952 of the Bush family, he was the father of former Vice President and Pr ...
, and who unsuccessfully sought the state's Class 1 Senate seat against Democrat Ralph Yarborough in 1964. Bush would go on to hold the district for two terms before making an unsuccessful run for the United States Senate in 1970, losing to
Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen Jr. (February 11, 1921 – May 23, 2006) was an American politician who was a four-term United States Senator (1971–1993) from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for vice president in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis t ...
who defeated Yarborough in an upset in the Democratic primary. Bush would eventually go on to become
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
under
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and in 1988 would be elected
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
, Bush would retire to the 7th where he continued to reside until his death in 2018.
Bush was succeeded by fellow Republican Bill Archer, who would go on to represent the district for 15 terms. Archer would never drop below 79% of the vote as the 7th district, now stretching from the prosperous west side of Houston, including such neighborhoods as River Oaks,
Tanglewood
Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...
, Briargrove, the Energy Corridor and the Memorial Villages, to fast-growing suburbs in the Cypress-Fairbanks and Katy areas and along FM 1960, became reckoned as the most Republican district in the Greater Houston area and arguably one of the most Republican districts in the nation. Archer would rise to prominence in 1994 following the
Republican Revolution
The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of ...
in which Republicans gained control of the House for the first time in 40 years, with Archer serving as chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee for his final three terms.
In 2000, Archer retired from Congress, leading to a highly competitive Republican primary - traditionally the real contest in the heavily Republican district. In the ensuing runoff,
State Representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United S ...
John Culberson
John Abney Culberson (born August 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019. A Republican, he served in in large portions of western Houston and surrounding ...
, who represented much of the congressional district's western portion, defeated opponent Peter Wareing to win the Republican nomination. By 2002, the district was further reduced in size, now taking in the west side of Houston as well as much of the unincorporated vicinity of the Barker and Addicks reservoirs in west Houston.
Following a controversial 2004 mid-decade redistricting, the district lost Katy and the immediate Barker Reservoir, while also gaining some neighborhoods surrounding Jersey Village and (most penultimately) a southwest section of Houston that encompassed
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
Meyerland
Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8. The neighborhood is named after the Meyer family, who bought and owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land in southwest Houston.
Meyerland is ...
and the historically liberal Montrose area. The latter portion made up the political base of freshman Democratic congressman Chris Bell's 25th district, and historically had not been associated with the 7th during Archer's tenure. While the 7th remained heavily Republican, its dominance was not as strong as in previous elections because of the redistricting. Meanwhile, the bulk of Bell's district had been renumbered as the 9th district and reconfigured as a majority-minority district. Instead of running against Culberson, Bell ran in the Democratic primary for the reconfigured 9th losing to
Al Green
Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
. Meanwhile, Culberson would go on to win reelection in the 7th against a nominal Democratic challenger in 2004, and won again with under 60 percent of the vote in 2006 in what was considered a bad year for Republicans who lost control of the House for the first time in 12 years.
In 2008, Culberson defeated wind energy executive Michael Skelly to win a fifth term with 56 percent of the vote, despite being vastly outspent by the latter in a surprisingly competitive race–the first that the district had seen in four decades. He was likely helped by
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...
winning the district with 58 percent of the vote in the presidential election. Culberson would go on to win a sixth term in 2010 unopposed.
After the 2012 redistricting process, the 7th lost some of its territory to the adjacent 2nd district of Republican
Ted Poe
Lloyd Theodore Poe (born September 10, 1948) is an American politician who represented Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2019. Poe was the first Republican to represent the 2nd district ...
, losing a stretch of territory stretching from north of
Jersey Village
Jersey Village is a city in west-central Harris County, Texas, United States, located at U.S. Highway 290, Farm to Market Road 529, and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The city is located in the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. ...
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...
. In exchange, Culberson gained much of the Greater Katy area south of
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...
, as well as a stretch of middle-class suburban areas along the western edge of
Highway 6
Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries:
International
* AH6 (highway), Asian Highway 6
* European route E6
* European route E006
Albania
* :de:Nationalstraße 6 (Albanien), National Road SH6
Argentina
* P ...
that had growing Hispanic populations, which also existed in the Sharpstown and Gulfton areas of southwest Houston that were also added to Culberson's district.
Despite the changes, Culberson continued to win reelection in his three successive elections, beating Democratic opponent James Cargas in three consecutive elections from 2012 to 2016. However, the district was one of 23 congressional districts that voted for Democratic presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
in 2016 after voting
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...
in 2012, due in part to backlash from some constituents of Republican
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
's campaign rhetoric and stances on such issues as trade and immigration. District residents' favoritism towards free trade and comprehensive immigration reform clashed with Trump's populist stances on these issues. The district swung 23 percent to the left from 2012, more than any other in the nation outside of Utah. Combined with demographic changes in parts of the district as well as the aftermath of
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...
, which caused catastrophic damage to many parts of the district in 2017, some political analysts argued the district could be vulnerable to a Democratic takeover in a
wave election
Wave elections in the United States are elections in which a political party makes major gains. Based on the "red states and blue states" color coding convention since 2000, wave elections have often been described as either a "blue wave" if the De ...
.
In 2018, Culberson ran against corporate litigator
Lizzie Fletcher
Elizabeth Ann Fletcher (née Pannill; born February 13, 1975) is an American attorney and politician from the state of Texas. A Democrat, she represents in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes much of western Hou ...
, who prevailed out of a crowded and well-funded Democratic primary that gained national attention when supporters of Fletcher's primary runoff opponent, journalist and progressive activist Laura Moser, cried foul over the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds, and organizes races in ...
's supposed preference for Fletcher over Moser in the primary. Despite this controversy, Fletcher prevailed by a comfortable margin in the primary runoff later that May. The race was one of the most closely watched in the nation that year, with Fletcher consistently outraising Culberson throughout the general election. Despite Culberson's proactive leadership in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Fletcher defeated Culberson to become the first Democrat to represent the district since its realignment as a Houston-based seat in 1966, as the 7th became one of 43 Republican seats (over 1/6th of the Republican conference) to flip Democratic in the 2018 election. Culberson held his own in his longtime base of west Houston and Memorial, areas that have been the district's core for its entire existence in its present configuration; he'd represented much of this area for over three decades at the state and federal levels. However, Fletcher swamped him in the portions of southwest Houston that were added in the 2004 redistricting, as well as in the Hispanic-plurality Bear Creek area near the Addicks Reservoir that was heavily affected by flooding from Harvey. As a measure of how Republican this district had historically been, Fletcher was only the fourth Democrat to even garner 40 percent of the vote in the district.
Fletcher was reelected in 2020 with 50 percent of the vote, likely helped by Joe Biden winning the district with 54 percent of the vote.
Today, the 7th district remains centered on the west side of Houston between Interstate 10 and Westheimer Road, stretching westward from
Uptown
Uptown may refer to:
Neighborhoods or regions in several cities
United States
* Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
* Uptown, area surrounding the University of Ci ...
through the
Memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of ...
CityCentre
CityCentre is a mixed-use development in the Memorial City district of Houston, Texas, located at the southeastern corner of the intersection of Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) and Beltway 8. Opened in 2009, CityCentre is a development with of gr ...
and
Memorial City Mall
Memorial City Mall is a large shopping mall in Houston, Texas, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Houston at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Gessner Road. The mall is in the Memorial City Management District, whose off ...
. The district also includes much of the Greater Katy area and the
Barker Reservoir
Barker Reservoir is a flood control structure in Houston, Texas which prevents downstream flooding of Buffalo Bayou, the city's principal river. The reservoir operates in conjunction with Addicks Reservoir to the northeast, which impounds Mayd ...
, the
Buffalo Bayou
Buffalo Bayou is a slow-moving body of water which flows through Houston in Harris County, Texas. Formed 18,000 years ago, it has its source in the prairie surrounding Katy, Fort Bend County, and flows approximately east through the Houston Shi ...
Jersey Village
Jersey Village is a city in west-central Harris County, Texas, United States, located at U.S. Highway 290, Farm to Market Road 529, and the Southern Pacific Railroad. The city is located in the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. ...
and Bellaire, and several neighborhoods along a five-mile-wide stretch of the western edge of
Highway 6
Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries:
International
* AH6 (highway), Asian Highway 6
* European route E6
* European route E006
Albania
* :de:Nationalstraße 6 (Albanien), National Road SH6
Argentina
* P ...
(including the Bear Creek and Copperfield areas), as well as large portions of southwest Houston centered on the
Meyerland
Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8. The neighborhood is named after the Meyer family, who bought and owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land in southwest Houston.
Meyerland is ...
, Sharpstown and Gulfton areas.
Until recently, the district tended to vote Republican, with a sizable Hispanic population largely concentrated in the areas along Highway 6 and in southwest Houston adding to the 45 percent Anglo plurality in the district.
For the 2022 elections, in order to protect surrounding Republican incumbents, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature redrew the 7th into a heavily Democratic district connecting northern portions of Fort Bend County (including western parts of Sugar Land with largely Asian-American populations) with much of the Westpark Tollway corridor of southwest Houston and Harris County (including the
Alief
Alief is a working-class suburb in Southwest Harris County, Texas, United States. Most of Alief is within the city limits of Houston, while a portion of the community is in unincorporated Harris County.
First settled in 1894 as a rural farm co ...
Meyerland
Meyerland is a community in southwest Houston, Texas, outside of the 610 Loop and inside Beltway 8. The neighborhood is named after the Meyer family, who bought and owned 6,000 acres (24 km²) of land in southwest Houston.
Meyerland is ...
,
Braeswood Place
Braeswood Place is a group of subdivisions in Harris County, Texas, United States. The vast majority of the land is in Houston while a small part is in Southside Place.
Braeswood Place is a mainly single-family neighborhood inside the 610 Loop, e ...
Greenway Plaza
Greenway Plaza is a business district located along Interstate 69 (U.S. Highway 59) within the Interstate 610 loop in southwestern Houston, Texas, west of Downtown and east of Uptown. The district is located immediately west of Upper Kirby ...
and the "island suburbs" of Bellaire, West University Place and
Southside Place
Southside Place is a city in west central Harris County, Texas, Harris County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,835 at the 2020 census.
As of the 2000 census, Southside Place was the 13th Texas locations by per capita income, wealthiest ...
. Most of the 7th's longtime constituency in west Houston, including
Memorial City
Memorial City is a commercial district in the Memorial area of Houston, Texas, United States. Located along Interstate 10 (Katy Freeway) between Beltway 8 and Bunker Hill Road, the district is anchored by Memorial City Mall, the nation's 38th-la ...
Katy Freeway
Katy or KATY may refer to:
People
* Katy, a short form of the name Katherine
* Katy (given name)
* Katy (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a fictional character
* Katy Perry
Places Serbia
* Kać, Serbia ( hu, Káty, link=no)
United States
* Katy, ...
, as well as the Memorial Villages, Memorial Park, the River Oaks neighborhood and its share of the Greater Katy area, have been moved over to the newly drawn 38th District that is expected to strongly favor Republicans, while many of the areas near the Addicks Reservoir (home to large numbers of middle-class Hispanics) were moved into the 8th District. While the new 7th is not as heavily Democratic as the nearby 9th, 18th and 29th districts, Joe Biden won over 60 percent of the vote in the new 7th in 2020 (even though much of the new district was friendlier to Republicans in past elections), securing the district as a safe seat for Fletcher barring any future redistricting challenges.
List of members representing the district
Recent election results
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
See also
*
List of United States congressional districts
Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, with ...