Tennessee's 7th Congressional District

The 7th congressional district of Tennessee is a congressional district located in parts of Middle and West Tennessee. 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, and rural areas. Although most of the area is rural, more than half of the district's votes are cast in either Davidson County (Nashville), 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. Politically speaking, the area was secessionist and part of the Democrats' "Solid South" for a century after the Civil War, excluding heavily Republican Unionist Highland Rim Wayne County. Starting with the election of Don Sundquist 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 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 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 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 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.

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. 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. 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. 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 of R+10. Republican Congressman Mark Green still represents the district to this day.

Current boundaries

The district is located in both West and Middle Tennessee. It stretches as far north as the Kentucky border, as far south as the Alabama 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
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Benton County (4)

: Big Sandy, Camden (part; also 8th), Eva, Holladay

Cheatham County (4)

: All 4 communities

Davidson County (2)

: Berry Hill, Nashville (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
*List of United States congressional districts

References

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Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

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07
1823 establishments in Tennessee