Will Rick Boucher be the last congressman from far Southwest Virginia?
View 9th District congressmen in a larger map
Much has been made of the fact the Republican Morgan Griffith doesn’t live in the 9th Congressional District — at least not yet, anyway. He says next year’s redistricting is sure to bring Salem into the district.
And it’s true that the 9th is going to have to take in a lot of new territory (and people) come redistricting time. So no matter whether the 9th swallows up Salem, or pushes up into the Shenandoah Valley, or over into Martinsville and more of Southside, it’s clear that as time goes by, the 9th District is going to be getting further and further away from being a “pure” Southwest Virginia district.
That got us to thinking: Where have the district’s other congressmen been from?
Thanks to some help from librarian Belinda Harris, not to mention our old friends at Google Maps, we’ve put together this nifty map pinpointing the hometowns of all the 9th District congressmen since Reconstruction. Depending on how it displays on your browser, you might need to slide it around or zoom in or out to see the whole thing. (The Ninth has had two congressmen from out in Lee County, in the state’s westernmost tip, and has had one from as far north and east as . . .well, we’ll get to that soon enough.)
Some things we discovered:
* With only one exception, all the congressmen have been from Wytheville or west.
* That one exception is James W. Marshall, who served one term from 1893-1895. He was from New Castle. We haven’t tracked down a map of the district during the 1890s, so things must have changed, because Craig County later dropped out of the 9th District and then got put back in more recently.
* That means if Griffith wins this fall, it would be only the second time that the district hasn’t been represented by someone from what is more classically termed Southwest Virginia. (Where Southwest Virginia begins is an interesting concept; some in Roanoke don’t see themselves as part of Southwest Virginia, some do.) Of course, as the district expands geographically, it’s going to be more and more likely that future representatives will come from places other than the Bristol-Abingdon area, which, you’ll see, has supplied many of the district’s congressmen (including the incumbent, Rick Boucher). Hence, the provocative question in our headline.
* If Griffith wins, it also would be the first time that the Roanoke Valley has had not one but two congressman — Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, in the 6th District being the other one. There have been times in the past when the 6th District representative wasn’t from Roanoke, so the Roanoke Valley had none of its residents in Washington.
* Boucher is, by far, the long-serving congressman the 9th District has had. He was elected in 1982, so he’s wrapping up his 28th year in Congress. His predecessor, Republican William Wampler of Bristol, served 18 years (16 of those consecutively) and Democrat John Flannagan of Bristol served 18 years in the 1930s and 40s. But go back far enough and you’ll see lots of congressmen who only served a term or two.
Here’s a link to a Wikipedia entry. You’ll see a slight discrepancy with our list around the time of Reconstruction; we think it has to do with Virginia being part of a military district at the time. In any case, our source is “The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005,” which seems pretty authoritative.
September 24, 2010 - 6:39 PM
It will all depend on how Griffith reconfigures the district for his next attempt in 2012. This election is not really about now, it’s about gerrymandering the district to guarantee Griffith enough GOP strongholds in 2012. Never mind actually addressing constituents’ needs & desires, it’s all about locking in the blindered vote.
I’d not be one bit surprised to see Boucher win by a 55+% majority, yet find his district gerrymandered out from under him so that Abingdon is not even a part of the 9th district. The town skews far too Dem in voting, don’t you know, so they need to be slotted elsewhere….
No, Boucher won’t be the last congressman from far SWVa. He’ll continue to be the representative for the Ninth District, and when he decides to retire, another Son or Daughter of Southwest Virginia will succeed him.
I think any astute politican who can get his/her message across will get elected in the ninth. Nobody’s entitled to it though some seem to think it so.
I’m not even from this area, but I won’t vote for someone who isn’t at least residing in the District, or more familiar with it than ‘I can see it from my porch’. We have Morgan Palin running for Congress…
Don’t forget the 3rd choice OJ. Farmer, Veteran, sciologist, middleclass, no special interest money. Just a man who sees a need and steps up. A true independant who has rejected the political machine of both parties. You won’t see Palin or Obama on one of his campaign stops.
Sooner or later, folks will wake up and reject career politicians.
Take a look at Heaton for Congress. We do have a choice.
Let’s certainly hope there will be continued representation from SW Virginia, the part of Virginia “ruled” by northern and eastern Virginia. Otherwise, secession may need to be considered for this unique and wonderful part of Virginia!
If Griffith manages to win…yes it could very well be.
Steve — Don’t cry too much about NOVA ruling SW Virginia. We live in a hell hole of traffic because the good ole boys from your area and other parts of rural Virginia don’t care that the state’s economic engine have been short-changed in getting state money, especially for traffic. Hang on to your hat, boy, because with this census we are going to finally get some much needed roads, etc.
Linda–That traffic you describe is one among many reasons many of us choose to live in SW (rural) Virginia. If you have a major problem with it and the other multitude of problems you encounter your way, just come on down and join us in rural Virginia. We do find ourselves on the short of votes in nearly every major election, however. So far, we just have chosen live with it. It’s all a matter of which “poison” we choose to live with I guess.