Virginia's 7th congressional district

Virginia's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The district is currently represented by Democrat Abigail Spanberger, first elected in 2018.

Virginia's 7th congressional district
New boundaries of Virginia's 7th congressional district since January 3, 2017.
Representative	Abigail Spanberger D–Glen Allen
Area	3,117.9 sq mi (8,075 km^2)
Distribution	73.1% urban[1] 26.9% rural
Population (2017)	790,084[2]
Median income	$77,533[3]
Ethnicity	65.5% white 18.4% black 7.3% Hispanic 5.1% Asian 0.3% Native American
Cook PVI	R+6[4]

2016 redistricting

This image shows the 2016 court-ordered VA Congressional districts.

The Virginia Legislature's 2012 redistricting of the adjacent 3rd district was found unconstitutional and replaced with a court-ordered redistricting on January 16, 2016 for the 2016 elections.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Recent election results

Year	Office	Results
1996	President	Dole 58%–35%[11]
	Senator	Warner 59%–41%[12]
	Representative	Bliley 75%–20%[13]
1997	Governor	Gilmore 64%–34%[14]
	Lieutenant Governor	Hager 59%–37%[15]
	Attorney General	Earley 66%–34%[16]
1998	Representative	Bliley 79%–21%[17]
2000	President	Bush 61%–37%[18]
	Senator	Allen 61%–38%[19]
	Representative	Cantor 76%–24%[20]
2001	Governor	Earley 55%–44%[21]
	Lieutenant Governor	Katzen 52%–47%
	Attorney General	Kilgore 70%–30%
2002	Senator	Warner 86%–8%–6%[22]
	Representative	Cantor 69%–30%[23]
2004	President	Bush 61%–38%[24]
	Representative	Cantor 76%–24%[25]
2006	Senator	Allen 57%–42%[26]
	Representative	Cantor 64%–34%[27]
2005	Governor	Kilgore 52%–46%[28]
	Lieutenant Governor	Bolling 58%–42%[29]
	Attorney General	McDonnell 58%–42%[30]
2008	President	McCain 53%–46%[31]
	Senator	Warner 60%–39%[32]
	Representative	Cantor 63%–37%[33]
2009	Governor	McDonnell 65%–35%[34]
	Lieutenant Governor	Bolling 63%–37%[35]
	Attorney General	Cuccinelli 65%–35%[36]
2010	Representative	Cantor 59%–34%[37]
2012	President	Romney 57%–42%[38]
	Senator	Allen 55%–45%[39]
	Representative	Cantor 58%–41%[40]
2013	Governor	Cuccinelli 52%–38%–10%[41]
	Lieutenant Governor	Northam 51%–49%[42]
	Attorney General	Obenshain 58%–42%[43]
2014	Representative	Brat 61%–37%–2%[44]
	Senator	Gillespie 56%–41%–3%[45]
2016	President	Trump 50%–44%[46]
	Representative	Brat 58%–42%[47]
2017	Governor	Gillespie 51%–48%[48]
	Lieutenant Governor	Vogel 53%–47%[49]
	Attorney General	Adams 53%–47%[50]
2018	Senator	Kaine 52%–46%[51]
	Representative	Spanberger 50%–48%[52]

Geography

The district spans across much of Central Virginia including all of Orange, Culpeper, Goochland, Louisa, Nottoway, Amelia, and Powhatan counties. The district also includes large portions of Chesterfield and Henrico counties in the suburbs of Richmond. However, Richmond is not currently in the 7th. Spotsylvania County also has a large portion in the 7th district just outside of Fredericksburg[53]

Prior to 1993, the 7th District stretched from the fringes of the Washington, D.C. suburbs to Charlottesville. It included the far northern portion of the Shenandoah Valley, as well as Manassas and Fredericksburg. The district's current configuration dates from 1993, when Virginia was forced to create a majority-minority district by a Justice Department directive. At that time, most of Richmond, which had been entirely in the old 3rd District for over a century, was shifted to a newly created 3rd District. The remaining territory in the old 3rd was combined with some more rural areas to the north to form the new 7th District.

From 2013 to 2017, the 7th District stretched from the west end of Richmond through the wealthier portions of Henrico and Chesterfield counties before taking in all of Goochland, Hanover, Louisa, New Kent, Orange, Culpeper, Page and Rappahannock counties and a portion of Spotsylvania County.

Demographics

According to the United States Census Bureau's 2017 data for Virginia's 7th Congressional District, the total population of the district is 790,084. Median age for the district is 39.7 years. 65.5% of the district is Non-Hispanic White, 18.4% Black, 5.1% Asian, 0.3% Native American or Alaskan, and 3.4% some other race with 7.3% Hispanic or Latino. Owner-occupied housing is 73.0% and renter-occupied housing is 27.0%.[54] The median value of single-family owner-occupied homes is $266,500. 91.6% of the district population has at least a high school diploma, 40.4% at least a bachelor's degree or higher. 9.1% of the district are civilian veterans. 9.1% are foreign born and 11.9% speak a language other than English at home. 9.9% are of disability status.[55] 68.2% of the district is in the labor force, which consists of those 16 years and older. Mean travel time to work is 29.3 minutes. Median household income is $77,533. Per capita income is $37,567. 5.3% of the population account for families living below the poverty level, and 7.7% of individuals live below the poverty level.[56] 9.5% of Children live below the poverty line.[57]

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Term	Cong ress	Electoral history
John Page	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1793	1st 2nd	Elected in 1789. Re-elected in 1790. Redistricted to the 12th district.
Abraham B. Venable	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795	3rd 4th 5th	Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1793. Re-elected in 1795. Re-elected in 1797. Retired.
	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1799
John Randolph	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1803	6th 7th	Elected in 1799. Re-elected in 1801. Redistricted to the 15th district.
Joseph Lewis Jr.	Federalist	March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1813	8th 9th 10th 11th 12th	Elected in 1803. Re-elected in 1805. Re-elected in 1807. Re-elected in 1809. Re-elected in 1811. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Hugh Caperton	Federalist	March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1815	13th	Elected in 1813. Lost re-election.
Ballard Smith	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1821	14th 15th 16th	Elected in 1815. Re-elected in 1817. Re-elected in 1819. Lost re-election.
William Smith	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1823	17th	Elected in 1821. Redistricted to the 21st district.
Jabez Leftwich	Crawford Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825	18th	Redistricted from the 14th district and re-elected in 1823. Lost re-election.
Nathaniel Claiborne	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1835	19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th	Elected in 1825. Re-elected in 1827. Re-elected in 1829. [data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837
Archibald Stuart	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1839	25th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
William L. Goggin	Whig	March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1843	26th 27th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Henry A. Wise	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – February 12, 1844	28th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
Vacant		February 13, 1844 – May 5, 1844
Thomas H. Bayly	Democratic	May 6, 1844 – March 3, 1853	28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd	Elected to finish Wise's term. Redistricted to the 1st district.
William Smith	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1861	33rd 34th 35th 36th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
Vacant		March 4, 1861 – May 22, 1861	37th
Charles H. Upton	Unionist	May 23, 1861 – February 27, 1862		Election invalidated
Vacant		February 28, 1862 – February 15, 1863
Lewis McKenzie	Unionist	February 16, 1863 – March 3, 1863		Elected to finish Upton's term. Lost re-election.[58]
Vacant		March 4, 1863 – January 30, 1870	38th 39th 40th 41st	Civil War
Lewis McKenzie	Conservative	January 31, 1870 – March 3, 1871	41st	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Elliott M. Braxton	Democratic	March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873	42nd	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
John T. Harris	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1881	43rd 44th 45th 46th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
John Paul	Readjuster	March 4, 1881 – September 5, 1883	47th 48th	Appointed U.S. District Court judge
Vacant		September 6, 1883 – May 4, 1884	48th
Charles T. O'Ferrall	Democratic	May 5, 1884 – December 28, 1893	48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd	Elected to finish Paul's term. Retired to run for Governor of Virginia.
Vacant		December 29, 1893 – January 29, 1894	53rd
Smith S. Turner	Democratic	January 30, 1894 – March 3, 1897	53rd 54th	Elected to finish O'Ferrall's term. Retired.
James Hay	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – October 1, 1916	55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th	Appointed U.S. Claim Court judge
Vacant		October 2, 1916 – November 6, 1916	64th
Thomas W. Harrison	Democratic	November 7, 1916 – December 15, 1922	64th 65th 66th 67th	Elected to finish Hay's term. Election invalidated.
John Paul Jr.	Republican	December 15, 1922 – March 3, 1923	67th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Thomas W. Harrison	Democratic	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1929	68th 69th 70th	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
Jacob A. Garber	Republican	March 4, 1929 – March 3, 1931	71st	[data unknown/missing] Lost re-election.
John W. Fishburne	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – March 3, 1933	72nd	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
District eliminated March 4, 1933
District recreated: January 3, 1935
Absalom Willis Robertson	Democratic	January 3, 1935 – November 5, 1946	74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become run for U.S. senator.
Burr Harrison	Democratic	November 5, 1946 – January 3, 1963	79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th	Elected to finish Robertson's term. Retired.
John O. Marsh Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1971	88th 89th 90th 91st	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
J. Kenneth Robinson	Republican	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1985	92nd 93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th 98th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
D. French Slaughter Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1985 – November 5, 1991	99th 100th 101st 102nd	[data unknown/missing] Resigned.
George F. Allen	Republican	November 5, 1991 – January 3, 1993	102nd	Elected to finish Slaughter's term. Retired to run for Governor of Virginia.
Thomas J. Bliley Jr.	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001	103rd 104th 105th 106th	[data unknown/missing] Retired.
Eric Cantor	Republican	January 3, 2001 – August 18, 2014	107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	[data unknown/missing] Lost renomination and then resigned.
Vacant		August 18, 2014 – November 4, 2014	113th
Dave Brat	Republican	November 4, 2014 – January 3, 2019	113th 114th 115th	Elected to finish Cantor's term and also to the next term. Lost re-election.
Abigail Spanberger	Democratic	January 3, 2019 – present	116th	Elected in 2018.

Historical district boundaries

2003–2013

See also

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

References

1. Geography, US Census Bureau. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
2. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US5107-congressional-district-7-va/
3. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=51&cd=07
4. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
5. "Court Ordered Redistricting". Redistricting.dls.virginia.gov. September 3, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
6. http://redistricting.dls.virginia.gov/2010/Data/Court%20Ordered%20Redistricting/2016%2001%2007%20Personnhuballah%20v%20Alcorn%20Civil%20Action%20No.%203-13cv678.pdf
7. "Supreme Court weighs legality of Virginia redistricting". The Hill. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
8. By $${element.Contributor} (February 1, 2016). "Supreme Court Allows Virginia Redistricting to Stand in 2016". Roll Call. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
9. Andrew Cain (January 7, 2016). "Judges impose new Va. congressional map, redrawing 3rd, 4th Districts | Virginia Politics". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
10. Dispatch, PATRICK WILSON Richmond Times. "Fueled by suburban votes, Spanberger beats Brat in 7th District House race". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
11. "Summarized by Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia – State Board of Elections ELECTION RESULTS November 5, 1996 General Election For Office of PRESIDENT/VICE PRESIDENT of the United States. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
12. "Summarized by Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia – State Board of Elections ELECTION RESULTS November 5, 1996 General Election For Office of UNITED STATES SENATE. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
13. "Seventh Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia/ELECTION RESULTS/NOVEMBER 5, 1996 GENERAL ELECTION/For Office of United States House of Representatives/By Locality and Precinct for Congressional District 007. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
14. "Summary by Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia/ELECTION RESULTS/NOVEMBER 4, 1997 GENERAL ELECTION/For Office of GOVERNOR/By Congressional District. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
15. "Commonwealth Of Virginia ELECTION RESULTS NOVEMBER 4, 1997 GENERAL ELECTION For Office of LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR By Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia/ELECTION RESULTS/NOVEMBER 4, 1997 GENERAL ELECTION/For Office of LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR/By Congressional District. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
16. "SUMMARY OF NOVEMBER 4, 1997 GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS/by Congressional District". Commonwealth Of Virginia/ELECTION RESULTS/NOVEMBER 4, 1997 GENERAL ELECTION/For Office of ATTORNEY GENERAL/By Congressional District. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
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21. "Official Results/Governor". General Election – November 6, 2001. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
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30. "Official Results/Attorney General". General Election – November 8, 2005. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
31. "President>President And Vice President>Votes By District". November 2008 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
32. "Congress>U.S. Senate>United States Senate>Votes By District". November 2008 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
33. "U.S. House of Representatives". November 2008 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
34. "Governor>Votes by District". November 2009 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
35. "Lieutenant Governor>Votes by District". November 2009 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
36. "Attorney General>Votes by District". November 2009 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
37. "U.S. House of Representatives". November 2, 2010 General and Special Elections Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
38. "President>President And Vice President>Votes By District". November 2012 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
39. "Congress>U.S. Senate>United States Senate>Votes By District". November 2012 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
40. "U.S. House of Representatives". November 2012 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
41. "Governor>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
42. "Lieutenant Governor>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
43. "Attorney General>Votes by District". November 2013 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
44. "U.S. House of Representatives". November 2014 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
45. "Congress". November 2014 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
46. "President>President And Vice President>Votes By District". November 2016 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
47. "U.S. House of Representatives". November 2016 Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
48. "Governor>Votes by District". November 2017 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
49. "Lieutenant Governor>Votes by District". November 2017 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
50. "Attorney General>Votes by District". November 2017 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
51. "2018 U.S. Senate Results by Congressional District". The Virginia Public Access Project. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
52. "House>Votes by District". November 2018 General Election Official Results. Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
53. "Virginia's 7th Congressional District – VA-07 Representatives & District Map – GovTrack.us". GovTrack.us. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
54. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US5107-congressional-district-7-va/
55. "DISABILITY CHARACTERISTICS/2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
56. "SELECTED ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS/2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
57. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US5107-congressional-district-7-va/
58. https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=639495

• 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