Tennessee's 7th Congressional District
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The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of
Middle Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...
and
West Tennessee West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that roughly comprises the western quarter of the state. The region includes 21 counties between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, delineated by state law. Its geography consists ...
. It has been represented since January 2019 by Republican Mark Green, who has announced he is resigning for a job in the private sector after passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The seventh district has significant urban,
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
, and
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
areas. Although most of the area is rural, more than half of the district's votes are cast in either Davidson County (
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
), Montgomery County ( Clarksville), or Williamson County ( Franklin). By most measures, Williamson County is the wealthiest county in the state and is usually ranked near the top nationally. The district has a very strong military presence, as it includes Tennessee's share of
Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...
. Politically speaking, the area was secessionist and part of the Democrats' "
Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...
" for a century after the Civil War, excluding heavily Republican Unionist
Highland Rim The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee, North Alabama, and Kentucky which surrounds the Central Basin. The Central Basin is a geological dome which has subsequently fractured and eroded to produce a basin. The Highland R ...
Wayne County. Starting with the election of
Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (March 15, 1936 – August 27, 2023) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional dis ...
in 1983, this district has become one of the most Republican areas in Tennessee. 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 Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...
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 George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
lie within this district. However, since the mid-2000s, these counties have turned overwhelmingly Republican in all elections. Currently, the only Democratic stronghold in the district is part of Nashville, which was added during the 2020 redistricting cycle. The city of Clarksville is the most competitive part of the district, which still occasionally elects Democrats to the state legislature.


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 Robin Jerald Beard Jr. (August 21, 1939 – June 16, 2007) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee's 6th congressional district, who served from 1973 to 1983 ...
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 Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...
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 Donald Kenneth Sundquist (March 15, 1936 – August 27, 2023) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional dis ...
. 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 Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (; born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in ...
. 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 long, but only wide at some points in the Middle Tennessee portion (roughly the width of a highway lane). Following that re-districting, the area chose Brentwood-based state senator
Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Tennessee. Blackburn was first ...
. 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 the U.S. Senate, defeating former governor
Phil Bredesen Philip Norman Bredesen Jr. (; born November 21, 1943) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 48th governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was elected in ...
. In the concurrent election, the district selected doctor and former state senator Mark E. Green. Redistricting after the 2020 census made the district somewhat less Republican. This was because Tennessee's legislature cracked heavily Democratic Nashville between congressional districts to boost Republican support in the 5th district. The 7th district picked up the western portion of Nashville while it lost some rural counties to the 8th district. Despite the dramatic changes to the district's boundaries, the district is still considered safe Republican, with a
Cook PVI The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, comp ...
of R+10. Republican Congressman Mark Green still represents the district to this day.


Current boundaries

The district is located in both
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and
Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the state's capital an ...
. It stretches as far north as the
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
border, as far south as the
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 ...
border, as far east as Franklin, and as far west as Camden. For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), it contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST47/CD118_TN07.pdf
/ref> Benton County (4) : Big Sandy, Camden (part; also
8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...
), Eva, Holladay Cheatham County (4) : All 4 communities Davidson County (2) : Berry Hill,
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
(part; also 5th and 6th) Dickson County (6) : All 6 communities Decatur County (3) : All 3 communities Hickman County (4) : All 4 communities Houston County (2) : Erin, Tennessee Ridge Humphreys County (3) : All 3 communities Montgomery County (1) : Clarksville Perry County (2) : Linden, Lobelville Robertson County (11) : All 11 communities Stewart County (3) : All 3 communities Wayne County (3) : All 3 communities Williamson County (4) : Brentwood (part; also 5th), Fairview, Franklin (part; also 5th), Thompson's Station (part; also 5th)


Recent election results

; Results under old lines ''(2013-2023)'' ; Results under current lines ''(2023-present)''


Recent election results from statewide races


List of members representing the district


Historical district boundaries


See also

*
Tennessee's congressional districts There are currently nine United States congressional districts in Tennessee based on results from the 2020 United States census. There have been as few as eight and as many as thirteen congressional districts in Tennessee. The and the were lost ...
*
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 within the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, wi ...


References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{Coord, 35, 38, 02, N, 87, 49, 59, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 07 1823 establishments in Tennessee