Georgia's 7th congressional district

Georgia's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is currently represented by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux. The district's boundaries have been redrawn following the 2010 census, which granted an additional congressional seat to Georgia.[3] The first election using the new district boundaries (listed below) were the 2012 congressional elections.

Georgia's 7th congressional district
Georgia's 7th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Representative	Carolyn Bourdeaux D–Suwanee
Distribution	99.55% urban[1] 0.45% rural
Population (2019)	844,773[2]
Median household income	$80,926[2]
Ethnicity	45.83% White 21.08% Black 18.62% Hispanic 14.31% Asian 0.16% Native American
Cook PVI	R+9

The district includes portions of the northeast Atlanta metropolitan area, including the cities of Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Cumming, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Snellville, Suwanee, and Buford.[4] It covers most of Gwinnett County and part of Forsyth.

While the district had been considered a Republican stronghold since the mid-1990s, it has recently become friendlier to Democrats as a result of significant demographic changes, particularly the growth of Black, Hispanic and Asian populations. In the 2018 midterm elections, Woodall won reelection by only 433 votes, or 0.15%, against Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux, and his victory was only confirmed after a recount. In terms of both absolute numbers and vote percentage, it was the closest U.S. House race in the country in 2018. In 2020, Bourdeaux was elected to represent the district in Congress. As of 2021, it is the most Republican district to be represented by a Democrat.

Counties

• Forsyth (Partial, see also 9th district)
• Gwinnett (Partial, see also 4th district and 10th district)

History

Although the seat had been held by Republicans since 1995 until 2020, the 7th district had previously elected Democrats consistently from the Reconstruction era (1868) until the 1994 Congressional Elections.

Demographics

According to the APM Research Lab's Voter Profile Tools (featuring the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey), the district contained about 502,000 potential voters (citizens, age 18+). Of these, 52% are White, 24% Black, 12% Asian, and 10% Latino. More than one-fifth (21%) of the district's potential voters are immigrants. Median income among households (with one or more potential voter) in the district is about $85,800. As for the educational attainment of potential voters in the district, 44% hold a bachelor's or higher degree.

Recent results in Presidential elections

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	George W. Bush 69% - Al Gore 31%
2004	President	George W. Bush 70% - John Kerry 30%
2008	President	John McCain 60% - Barack Obama 39%
2012	President	Mitt Romney 60.2% - Barack Obama 38.3%
2016	President	Donald Trump 51.1% - Hillary Clinton 44.8%
2020	President	Joe Biden 52.4% - Donald Trump 46.1%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history
District created in 1827
John Floyd	Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829	20th	Elected in 1826. [data unknown/missing]
Not used		March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1845	20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th	Georgia only used at-large districts.
Alexander H. Stephens	Whig	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1851	29th 30th 31st 32nd	Redistricted from the at-large district. Redistricted to the 8th district.
	Unionist	March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1853
David A. Reese	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	[data unknown/missing]
Nathaniel G. Foster	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857	34th	[data unknown/missing]
Joshua Hill	Know Nothing	March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859	35th 36th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
	Opposition	March 4, 1859 – January 23, 1861
Vacant		January 23, 1861 – July 25, 1868	40th	Civil War and Reconstruction
Pierce M. B. Young	Democratic	July 25, 1868 – March 3, 1869		[data unknown/missing] Re-elected in 1868 but not permitted to qualify.
Vacant		March 4, 1869 – December 22, 1870	41st
Pierce M. B. Young	Democratic	December 22, 1870 – March 3, 1875	41st 42nd 43rd	Elected to finish his own term. [data unknown/missing]
William H. Felton	Independent Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881	44th 45th 46th	[data unknown/missing]
Judson C. Clements	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1891	47th 48th 49th 50th 51st	[data unknown/missing]
Robert W. Everett	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893	52nd	[data unknown/missing]
John W. Maddox	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1905	53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th 58th	[data unknown/missing]
Gordon Lee	Democratic	March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1927	59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th	[data unknown/missing]
Malcolm C. Tarver	Democratic	March 4, 1927 – January 3, 1947	70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th	[data unknown/missing]
Henderson L. Lanham	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – November 10, 1957	80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant		November 10, 1957 – January 8, 1958	85th
Harlan E. Mitchell	Democratic	January 8, 1958 – January 3, 1961	85th 86th	[data unknown/missing]
John W. Davis	Democratic	January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1975	87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd	[data unknown/missing]
Larry McDonald	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – September 1, 1983	94th 95th 96th 97th 98th	[data unknown/missing] Died in the Korean Air Lines Flight 007.
Vacant		September 1, 1983 – November 8, 1983	98th
George Darden	Democratic	November 8, 1983 – January 3, 1995	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd	Lost reelection
Bob Barr	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2003	104th 105th 106th 107th	[data unknown/missing] Lost renomination after redistricting.
John Linder	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011	108th 109th 110th 111th	Redistricted from the 11th district and re-elected in 2002. [data unknown/missing]
Rob Woodall	Republican	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2021	112th 113th 114th 115th 116th	Retired
Carolyn Bourdeaux	Democratic	January 3, 2021 – present	117th

Election results

2002

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2002)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Linder	138,997	78.91
	Democratic	Michael Berlon	37,124	21.08
	No party	Others	24	0.02
Total votes			176,145	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2004

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2004)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Linder*	258,982	100.00
Total votes			258,982	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2006

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2006)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Linder*	130,561	70.91
	Democratic	Allan Burns	53,553	29.09
Total votes			184,114	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2008

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2008)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Linder*	209,354	62.03
	Democratic	Doug Heckman	128,159	37.97
Total votes			337,513	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2010

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2010)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodall	160,898	67.07
	Democratic	Doug Heckman	78,996	32.93
Total votes			239,894	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2012

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2012)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodall	156,689	62.16
	Democratic	Steve Riley	95,377	37.84
Total votes			252,066	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2014

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2014)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodall	113,557	65.39
	Democratic	Thomas Wight	60,112	34.61
Total votes			173,669	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2016

Georgia's 7th Congressional District Election (2016)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodall	174,081	60.38
	Democratic	Rashid Malik	114,220	39.62
Total votes			288,301	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2018

Georgia's 7th congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rob Woodall (incumbent)	140,430	50.07
	Democratic	Carolyn Bourdeaux	140,011	49.93
Total votes			280,441	100.0
	Republican hold

2020

Georgia's 7th congressional district, 2020

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Carolyn Bourdeaux	190,900	51.39
	Republican	Rich McCormick	180,564	48.61
Total votes			371,464	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

Historical district boundaries

The district from 2007 to 2013

The district from 2003 to 2007

See also

• Georgia's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov.
2. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau. "My Congressional District". www.census.gov.
3. Justice Department approves Georgia's political maps. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Last accessed 2011-12-27
4. 2012 Congressional maps - Metro Atlanta, Georgia Legislature. Last accessed 2012-1-1

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Further reading

• Amber Phillips (September 25, 2020), "The House seats most likely to flip in November", Washingtonpost.com

External links

• PDF map of Georgia's 7th district at nationalatlas.gov
• Georgia's 7th district at GovTrack.us