Colorado's 7th congressional district

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Colorado's 7th congressional district
Area	1,265 mi²
Distribution	97.7% urban, 2.3% rural
Population (2000)	614,465
Median income	$46,149
Ethnic composition	68.9% White, 5.8% Black, 2.9% Asian, 19.6% Hispanic, 0.6% Native American, 0.1% other
Cook PVI	D+2

The 7th Congressional district of Colorado is located in central Colorado, encompassing much of the northern parts of the Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, including the cities of Lakewood, Arvada, and Aurora. It is represented in the current Congress by Democrat Ed Perlmutter.

Contents 1 2000's alignment 2 Competitiveness 3 Historic Representation 4 Recent election results 4.1 2002 election 4.2 2004 election 4.3 2006 election 4.3.1 2006 Democratic primary 4.3.2 2006 general election

[edit] 2000's alignment

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 between registered Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters. In 2003 state Republicans, who at that time controlled both houses of the 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 state 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. George W. Bush received 48% of the vote in this district in 2004.

[edit] Competitiveness

This evenly balanced seat is trending Democrat due to the increase of the Hispanic population in Commerce City and Aurora in Adams County and a slight leftward lean in the Jefferson County portion of the seat. The shift in control in the State Legislature took place partly because of Democratic wins in 7th district portion of Jefferson County in the last few election cycles.

[edit] Historic Representation

Congress	Representative	Party
108th-109th (2003-2007)	Bob Beauprez	Republican
110th (2007-present)	Ed Perlmutter	Democratic

[edit] Recent election results

[edit] 2002 election

The 2002 election was one of the closest in congressional history. Due to the small margin, a time-consuming recount was required, which caused the provisional loser, Democrat Mike Feeley, to attend meetings for first-time congressmen should he ultimately have been declared the victor. The final tally confirmed the win for Bob Beauprez by 122 votes.

[edit] 2004 election

US House election, 2004: Colorado District 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bob Beauprez	135,571	54.7
	Democratic	Dave Thomas	106,026	42.8
	Constitution	Clyde J. Harkins	6,167	2.5
Turnout			247,764
	Republican hold		Swing

[edit] 2006 election

[edit] 2006 Democratic primary

US House election, 2006: Colorado District 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter	15,385	53.3%
	Democratic	Peggy Lamm	10,857	37.6%
	Democratic	Herb Rubenstein	2,569	8.9%
Turnout

[edit] 2006 general election

US House election, 2006: Colorado District 7
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ed Perlmutter	103,918	54.9%	+12.1
	Republican	Rick O'Donnell	79,571	42.1%	-12.4
	Green	Dave Chandler	3,073	1.6%	*
	Constitution	Roger McCarville	2,605	1.4%	-1.1
Turnout			189,167
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	12.3

v • d • e Colorado's congressional districts Territory At-large 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 See also: Colorado's past & present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations All U.S. districts – Apportionment – Redistricting – Gerrymandering – Maps