Alabama's 4th congressional district

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Alabama's Fourth Congressional District since 2002.

Alabama's Fourth Congressional District is a U.S. congressional district in Alabama, which elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives. It encompasses the counties of Franklin, Marion, Lamar, Fayette, Walker, Winston, Cullman, Blount, Marshall, Etowah, and DeKalb. It also includes parts of Morgan and Pickens Counties, as well as parts of the Decatur Metropolitan Area, and the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area.

It is currently represented by Republican Robert Aderholt.

[edit] Statistics

• Area: 8,524 Sq. Miles
• Distribution: 26.5% Urban, 73.5% Rural
• Population (2000): 635,300
• Median Income: $31,344
• Ethnic Composition: 90.4% White, 5.1% Black, 0.2% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 3% Hispanic, 0.8% Other
• Occupation: Blue Collar 40.8%, White Collar 46.0%, Gray Collar 13.2%
• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 16

[edit] Character

Alabama's fourth congressional district is considered a very safe Republican Seat

Alabama's 4th Congressional district is a collection of small towns north of Birmingham- Cullman, Jasper, Russellville, Fort Payne, Alberville and Gadsden. Stretching right across the state and crossing the Appalachian ranges, this district covers lightly populated rural areas. This district has the lowest percentage of black population in the state.

This area of northern Alabama faces the same economic challenges of much of the state - the most prominent being the loss of jobs in areas like textiles or manufacturing to international competitors. Fort Payne - the self-proclaimed sock capital of the world - in particular has drawn political attention to its 150 sock factories which face severe competition from China and India. This district also has a good share of military veterans.

While Democrats have a substantial majority in voter registration, most of them tend to be quite conservative on social issues; controversial former state supreme court judge Roy Moore is from this area. Some counties voted against secession before the Civil War; they are among the few areas of Alabama to support Republicans prior to the Civil Rights Movement. The district was one of five to elect a Republican in 1964 when Barry Goldwater swept the state. However, it returned to the Democratic fold and remained there for 30 years until it elected a Republican in 1996.

This district gave a 71% vote to George W. Bush in 2004, his second-best performance in the state--behind only the neighboring 6th District.

The towns in this district are Hamilton, Fort Payne and Gadsden.

[edit] Representation

A visual representation of party control of Alabama's 4th Congressional District. The district first elected a member for the 23rd congress.

[edit] Election results

[edit] 2004

Main article: U.S. House election, 2004

[edit] External links

• CNN coverage of the 2006 election
• CNN converage of the 2004 election
• CNN converage of the 2002 election
• CNN converage of the 2000 election