Alabama's 5th congressional district is a U.S.

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, which elects a representative to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. It encompasses the counties of Lawrence,

Limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, Madison,

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, and part of

Lauderdale Lauderdale is the valley of the Leader Water (a tributary of the River Tweed, Tweed) in the Scottish Borders. It contains the town of Lauder, as well as Earlston. The valley is traversed from end to end by the A68 road, A68 trunk road, which run ...

. It is currently represented by Republican

Dale Strong Dale Whitney Strong (born May 8, 1970) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2023. His district includes much of North Alabama, including the city of Huntsville. A member of the Republican Party, Strong served o ...

, a former Madison County Commissioner. Strong was first elected in 2022 following the retirement of Republican incumbent

Mo Brooks Morris Jackson Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. His district was based in Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsvill ...

Character

Two major economic projects have lastingly impacted the 5th district and have indelibly dictated the politics of

North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

for most of the 20th Century. Before 1933, the Northern Alabama counties were characteristically poor, white and rural. The

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...

's (TVA) arrival changed much of that, slowly transforming the demographic towards technical and engineering employees. The second major project was the space and rocketry programs including

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistica ...

Huntsville Huntsville is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the 100th-most populous city in the U.S. The Huntsville metropolitan area had an estimated 525,465 ...

where the first large U.S. Ballistic missiles were developed. Additionally,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

built the Marshall Space Flight Center in the Huntsville-Decatur area during the 1960s. In the late 1950s Northern Alabama came to be dominated by the high-tech and engineering industries, a trend which has continued up to the present. In recent years, the

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...

has located its research center in Decatur. As a result, Huntsville has become the second largest and fastest growing metropolitan area in Alabama. For a time, the district bucked the increasing Republican trend in Alabama. It was the only district in the state that supported

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States serving from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976. ...

in 1984, but hasn't supported a Democrat for president since then. Democrats continue to hold most offices at the local level, and continued to hold most of the district's seats in the Alabama state legislature until the Republicans swept nearly all of north Alabama's seats in 2010. In the mid-1990s, it was a seriously contested seat, with longtime Democratic incumbent

Bud Cramer Robert Edward "Bud" Cramer Jr. (born August 22, 1947) is an American politician who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009, representing . On March 13, 2008, Cramer announced he would not seek r ...

winning reelection by only 1,770 votes in 1994. However, Cramer was elected five more times with 70 percent or more of the vote and even ran unopposed in the Democratic landslide year of 2006. Cramer did not seek reelection in 2008.

Parker Griffith Rolf Parker Griffith Jr. (born August 6, 1942) is a retired American physician, entrepreneur and politician who served in the Alabama State Senate from 2006 to 2008 and then as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011. A lifelong member o ...

, a retired oncologist and

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

, won the open seat in November 2008. However, in December 2009, Griffith became a Republican. Until Griffith's switch, the district had been one of the last in the former Confederacy not to have sent a Republican to the U.S. Congress since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. Griffith was ousted in the Republican primary by former Representative Mo Brooks.

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

won 60% of the vote in this district in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

also carried the 5th district in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

with 60.91% of the vote while

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

received 37.99%.

Recent election results from statewide races

Counties and communities within district

For the 119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following the Supreme Court's decision in '' Allen v. Milligan''), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities. Jackson County (13) : All 13 communities Lauderdale County (3) : Anderson, Lexington, Rogersville Lawrence County (6) : All six communities Limestone County (8) : All eight communities Madison County (12) : All 12 communities Morgan County (8) : All eight communities

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

These are the results from the previous twelve election cycles in Alabama's 5th district.

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

;Specific ;General * *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabama's 5th Congressional District 05 Colbert County, Alabama Jackson County, Alabama Lauderdale County, Alabama Lawrence County, Alabama Limestone County, Alabama Madison County, Alabama Morgan County, Alabama Constituencies established in 1833 1833 establishments in Alabama Constituencies disestablished in 1841 1841 disestablishments in Alabama Constituencies established in 1843 1843 establishments in Alabama Constituencies disestablished in 1861 1861 disestablishments in Alabama Constituencies established in 1868 1868 establishments in Alabama Constituencies disestablished in 1963 1963 disestablishments in Alabama Constituencies established in 1965 1965 establishments in Alabama