Colorado's 7th congressional district

"CO-7" redirects here. For the state highway, see Colorado State Highway 7.

Colorado's 7th congressional district
Current Representative		Ed Perlmutter (D–Golden)
Area	1,265 mi²
Distribution	97.7% urban, 2.3% rural
Population (2000)	614,465
Median income	$46,149
Ethnicity	68.9% White, 5.8% Black, 2.9% Asian, 19.6% Hispanic, 0.6% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI	D+4

Colorado's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located in the central part of the state, the district encompasses much of the northern parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including the suburbs of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora as well as the large, rural eastern portions of Adams County.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Ed Perlmutter.

History

2000s

The 7th Congressional District was created following the 2000 U.S. Census and associated realignment and reapportionment of Colorado congressional districts. It consists of portions of Adams, Arapahoe, and Jefferson counties. The boundaries were drawn by a court after the state legislature failed to agree on a redistricting plan. It has been described as the most competitive congressional district in the United States, being almost equally split three ways among registered Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters.

In 2003, Colorado Republicans, who at that time controlled both houses of the state legislature, redrew the district's boundaries to make it more favorable to them, removing much of the western suburbs and adding much of Arapahoe and Elbert counties. Democrats sued to block the plan and won, with the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that redistricting could not be done more than once every ten years, so the legislature could not redistrict after failing to do so before the first post-census election.

Characteristics

This evenly balanced seat had been trending Democratic, attributed to some by the increase of the Hispanic population in Commerce City and Aurora in Adams County and a slight leftward lean, due to apathy of conservatives in the Jefferson County portion of the seat. The shift in control of the state legislature took place partly because of Democratic wins in the 7th Congressional District portion of Jefferson County in the last few election cycles.

Voting

Election results from presidential races

Year	Office	Result
2004	President	Kerry 51 - 48%
2008	President	Obama 59 - 40%

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Congress	District Home	Electoral history
District created January 3, 2003
Bob Beauprez	Republican	January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007	108th	Arvada	First elected in 2002 Retired to run for Governor of Colorado
			109th
Ed Perlmutter	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – Present	110th	Golden	First elected in 2006
			111th
			112th

Election results

2002

United States House of Representatives elections, 2002
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Bob Beauprez	81,789	47.31%
	Democratic	Mike Feeley	81,668	47.24%
	Green	Dave Chandler	3,274	1.89%
	Reform	Victor Good	3,133	1.81%
	Libertarian	G. T. "Bud" Martin	2,906	1.68%
	Independent	Stanford Andress (as a write-in)	109	0.06%
Totals			172,879	100.0%
	Republican win (new seat)

2004

United States House of Representatives elections, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Republican	Bob Beauprez (incumbent)	135,571	54.72%
	Democratic	Dave Thomas	106,026	42.79%
	Constitution	Clyde J. Harkins	6,167	2.49%
Totals			247,764	100.0%
	Republican hold

2006

Main article: Colorado's 7th congressional district election, 2006

United States House of Representatives elections, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter	103,918	54.93%
	Republican	Rick O'Donnell	79,571	42.06%
	Green	Dave Chandler	3,073	1.62%
	Constitution	Roger McCarville	2,605	1.38%
Totals			189,172	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

2008

United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	173,931	63.48%
	Republican	John W. Lerew	100,055	36.52%
Totals			273,986	100.0%
	Democratic hold

2010

United States House of Representatives elections, 2010
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter (incumbent)	112,667	53.44%
	Republican	Ryan Frazier	88,026	41.76%
	Libertarian	Buck Bailey	10,117	4.80%
Totals			210,810	100.0%
	Democratic hold

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present