South Carolina's 7th congressional district

The 7th congressional district of South Carolina is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in South Carolina, established in 2011 following apportionment of another seat to the state following the 2010 census. It includes all of Chesterfield, Dillon, Georgetown, Horry, Marlboro, Darlington, and Marion counties and parts of Florence county. The first US representative from this new district, Tom Rice, was elected in 2012 and took office on January 3, 2013.

"SC-07" redirects here. For other uses, see SC 7 (disambiguation).
South Carolina's 7th congressional district
South Carolina's 7th congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative
  Tom Rice
R–Myrtle Beach
Population (2019)740,536
Median household
income		$49,494[1]
Ethnicity
Cook PVIR+9[2]

Election results from presidential races
Year Result
2012 Mitt Romney 54.5 - 44.4%
2016 Donald Trump 58 - 39.1%
2020 Donald Trump 59 - 40.6%

History

The 7th congressional district of South Carolina existed in the 19th century but it was eliminated in 1853 as a result of the 1850 Census. After the 1880 Census, Congress apportioned the state another seat, and the state legislature re-established the district.

By that time, the Reconstruction era had ended and the state legislature was controlled by Democrats, who wrested control by a mixture of violence and fraud. They defined the boundaries of the 7th district, which was called the "shoestring district" because of its long, narrow shape that included many black precincts. In 1892 and 1894 the majority-black voters of the district elected George W. Murray to Congress; he was the only African American to serve in Congress in those sessions and, following disfranchisement and demographic changes, the last elected from the state until Jim Clyburn in 1992.

In 1895, the Democrat-dominated state legislature passed a new constitution, disfranchising black voters by changes to voter registration and electoral rules that were applied against them in a discriminatory way. For decades after 1896, only white Democrats were elected to Congress from the state. (Such disfranchisement occurred among all the states of the former Confederacy, and their use of poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and white primaries survived several US Supreme Court challenges.)

During the first half of the 20th century, 6.5 million blacks in total left South Carolina and other southern states in the Great Migration to the North, Midwest and West. Following cumulative declines in state population, after the 1930 Census, South Carolina lost a seat and the 7th district was eliminated in redistricting. It was last represented by Democrat Hampton P. Fulmer, who was redistricted into the 2nd district.

South Carolina had only six districts for the next 80 years. African Americans were effectively barred from voting until after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Increases in population led to the state's receiving another congressional seat following the 2010 Census.

The 7th district is located in the rapidly developing area of northeastern South Carolina, including the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area (the Grand Strand) and the Pee Dee region.[3][4] It is a white-majority district and its voters elected Republican Tom Rice as US Representative from the district in 2012; he took office in January 2013, when the 113th Congress convened. Due almost entirely to the presence of heavily Republican Horry County, which has as many people as the rest of the district combined, it tilts Republican.

The district boundaries are roughly similar to the configuration of the 6th congressional district before it was reconfigured after the 1990 census as a black-majority district.

List of members representing the district
Member Party Years Cong
ress		 Electoral history District location
District created March 4, 1803
Thomas Moore Democratic-Republican March 4, 1803 –
March 3, 1813		 8th
9th
10th
11th
12th		 Redistricted from the 6th district and re-elected in 1803.
Re-elected in 1804.
Re-elected in 1806.
Re-elected in 1808.
Re-elected in 1810.
Retired.		 1803–1813
"Chester district"
Elias Earle Democratic-Republican March 4, 1813 –
March 3, 1815		 13th Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1812.
Lost re-election.		 1813–1823
"Pendleton district"
John Taylor Democratic-Republican March 4, 1815 –
March 3, 1817		 14th Elected in 1814.
Lost re-election.
Elias Earle Democratic-Republican March 4, 1817 –
March 3, 1821		 15th
16th		 Elected in 1816.
Re-elected in 1818.
Retired.
John Wilson Democratic-Republican March 4, 1821 –
March 3, 1823		 17th Elected in 1820.
Redistricted to the 6th district.
Joseph Gist Jackson
Republican		 March 4, 1823 –
March 3, 1825		 18th
19th		 Redistricted from the 8th district and re-elected in 1823.
Re-elected in 1824.
Retired.		 1823–1833
"Chester district"
Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –
March 3, 1827
William T. Nuckolls Jacksonian March 4, 1827 –
March 3, 1833		 20th
21st
22nd		 Elected in 1826.
Re-elected in 1828.
[data unknown/missing]
William K. Clowney Nullifier March 4, 1833 –
March 3, 1835		 23rd [data unknown/missing] 1833–1843
[data unknown/missing]
James Rogers Jacksonian March 4, 1835 –
March 3, 1837		 24th [data unknown/missing]
William K. Clowney Nullifier March 4, 1837 –
March 3, 1839		 25th [data unknown/missing]
James Rogers Democratic March 4, 1839 –
March 3, 1843		 26th
27th		 [data unknown/missing]

Robert B. Rhett		 Democratic March 4, 1843 –
March 3, 1849		 28th
29th
30th		 Redistricted from the 2nd district.
[data unknown/missing]		 1843–1853
[data unknown/missing]
William F. Colcock Democratic March 4, 1849 –
March 3, 1853		 31st
32nd		 [data unknown/missing]
District eliminated March 3, 1853
District re-established March 4, 1883

Edmund W.M. Mackey		 Republican March 4, 1883 –
January 27, 1884		 48th Redistricted from the 2nd district.
Died.		 1883–1893
[data unknown/missing]
Vacant January 27, 1884 –
March 18, 1884

Robert Smalls		 Republican March 18, 1884 –
March 3, 1887		 48th
49th		 [data unknown/missing]

William Elliott		 Democratic March 4, 1887 –
September 23, 1890		 50th
51st		 Elected in 1886.
Re-elected in 1888.
Lost election contest.

Thomas E. Miller		 Republican September 24, 1890 –
March 3, 1891		 51st Won election contest.
Lost re-election.

William Elliott		 Democratic March 4, 1891 –
March 3, 1893		 52nd Elected in 1890.
Retired.

George W. Murray		 Republican March 4, 1893 –
March 3, 1895		 53rd Elected in 1892.
Redistricted to the 1st district.
 1893–1903
[data unknown/missing]

J. William Stokes		 Democratic March 4, 1895 –
June 1, 1896		 54th Elected in 1894.
Seat declared vacant while being contested because of Democratic election fraud.
Vacant June 1, 1896 –
November 3, 1896

J. William Stokes		 Democratic November 3, 1896 –
July 6, 1901		 54th
55th
56th
57th		 Elected to finish his own term.
Also elected in 1896 to the next term.
Re-elected in 1898.
Re-elected in 1900.
Died.
Vacant July 6, 1901 –
November 5, 1901		 57th

Asbury F. Lever		 Democratic November 5, 1901 –
August 1, 1919		 57th
58th
59th
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th
65th
66th		 Elected to finish Stokes's term.
Re-elected in 1902.
Re-elected in 1904.
Re-elected in 1906.
Re-elected in 1908.
Re-elected in 1910.
Re-elected in 1912.
Re-elected in 1914.
Re-elected in 1916.
Re-elected in 1918.
Resigned to become member of Federal Farm Loan Board.
1903–1913
[data unknown/missing]
1913–1923
[data unknown/missing]
Vacant August 1, 1919 –
October 7, 1919		 66th

Edward C. Mann		 Democratic October 7, 1919 –
March 3, 1921		 Elected to finish Lever's term.
Lost renomination.

Hampton P. Fulmer		 Democratic March 4, 1921 –
March 3, 1933		 67th
68th
69th
70th
71st
72nd		 Elected in 1920.
Re-elected in 1922.
Re-elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
Re-elected in 1930.
Redistricted to the 2nd district.
1923–1933
[data unknown/missing]
District eliminated March 3, 1933
District re-established January 3, 2013

Tom Rice		 Republican January 3, 2013 –
Present		 113th
114th
115th
116th
117th		 Elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Re-elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.		 2013–present:

Recent election results

2012
South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2012[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Rice 153,068 55.5
Democratic Gloria Tinubu 122,389 44.4
n/a Write-ins 281 0.1
Total votes 275,738 100.0
Republican hold

2014
South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2014[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Rice (Incumbent) 102,833 59.9
Democratic Gloria Bromell-Tinubu 68,576 40.0
n/a Write-ins 115 0.1
Total votes 171,524 100.0
Republican hold

2016
South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2016 [8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Rice (incumbent) 176,468 61.0
Democratic Mal Hyman 112,744 38.9
n/a Write-ins 251 0.1
Total votes 289,463 100.0
Republican hold

2018
South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Rice (incumbent) 142,681 59.6
Democratic Robert Williams 96,564 40.3
n/a Write-ins 309 0.1
Total votes 239,554 100.0
Republican hold

2020
South Carolina's 7th congressional district, 2020[9]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Rice (incumbent) 224,993 61.8
Democratic Melissa Ward Watson 138,863 38.1
Write-in 235 0.1
Total votes 364,091 100.0
Republican hold


References
  1. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=45&cd=07
  2. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  3. "Census 2010 shows Red states gaining congressional districts". Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-12-21.

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