Colorado's 7th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Formerly located only in the northeast part of the state, the district now encompasses the western parts of the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver r ...

, including Golden, Lakewood, Arvada and Broomfield, along with the central Colorado counties of Jefferson,

Park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

, Teller,

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

, Chaffee, Fremont, and Custer. The district has been represented by Democrat

Brittany Pettersen Brittany Louise Pettersen (born December 6, 1981) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative from Colorado's 7th congressional district since 2023. She previously served as a member of the Colorado Senate from the 22nd district ...

since 2023.

History

2000s

The 7th congressional district was created following the

2000 U.S. Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

and associated realignment and

reapportionment Apportionment is the process by which seats in a legislative body are distributed among administrative divisions, such as states or parties, entitled to representation. This page presents the general principles and issues related to apportionme ...

of Colorado congressional districts. It formerly consisted of portions of Adams, Arapahoe, and Jefferson counties, see above for the more recent list. The boundaries were drawn by a court after the state legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan.

Characteristics

As originally drawn, the 7th was a "fair fight" district that was split roughly 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. The seat's original congressman, Republican Bob Beauprez, gave up the seat in 2006 to run for governor, and was succeeded by Democrat

Ed Perlmutter Edwin George Perlmutter (born May 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, his district is located in the northern and western suburbs of the Denver metropolitan area ...

. Since then, a growing Democratic trend in the Denver suburbs allowed Perlmutter to strengthen his hold on the seat. Redistricting after the 2010 census shifted the district to the more populated portions of Jefferson County, making it slightly more Democratic. The 2020 census has changed the district significantly, absorbing the rural areas in the central portion of the state. Demographic details of the new district have not been added here as of 6/1/2022, but are likely to favor a more balanced "fair fight" as opposed to the Democratic trend of the prior boundary.

Voting

Election results from presidential racesPresidential Election Results, by district
swingstateproject.com

List of members representing the district

Election results

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Historical district boundaries

References

Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado's 7th Congressional District 7 Adams County, Colorado Arapahoe County, Colorado Jefferson County, Colorado Constituencies established in 2003 2003 establishments in Colorado