“After all, prominent New York Democrats like Sen. Chuck Schumer and onetime vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro had held the seat long before Weiner took office in 1999.”
I mentioned that Eric Cantor claims to represent James Madison’s old congressional district. When James Madison represented the VA-05 in the First Congress, it included the following counties:
* Culpepper (which back then included all of the current Culpepper, Madison and Rappahannock counties)
* Orange (which back then included all of the current Orange and Greene counties)
* Spotsylvania (which back then included the current Spotsylvania County plus the current city of Fredericksburg)
* Louisa
* Albemarle (which back then included the current Albemarle County plus the current city of Charlottesville)
* Fluvanna
* Goochland
* Amherst (which back then included all of the current Amherst and Nelson counties)
Cantor’s VA-07 includes all of the current Goochland, Louisa, Orange, Culpepper, Madison and Rappahannock counties, and like half of Spotsylvania County. It should be noted that James Madison’s Montpelier home was located in the current Orange County, which is in the VA-07. I think that Cantor has the best claim at representing James Madison’s old CD.
Robert Hurt of VA-05 has a lesser claim to being the descendant of Madison’s VA-05. Hurt’s VA-05 includes all of the current Greene, Albemarle and Nelson Counties, as well as the city of Charlottesville. Hurt’s VA-05 may actually have a bit more population within the confines of Madison’s VA-05 than does Cantor’s VA-07 (depending on how many people in the current Spotsylvania County live within VA-07), but the heart of Madison’s old CD lies within Cantor’s VA-07.
It would be quite a stretch, though, for Rob Wittman of VA-01 to claim that he represents Madison’s old CD, even though his Hampton Roads district does include half of Spotsylvania County and the entire city of Fredericksburg. And it would be risible for Bob Goodlatte of VA-06 to make such a claim, since the only part of Madison’s VA-05 that Goodlatte represents is the current Amherst County.
(See page 149 to see a map of Madison’s VA-05: http://books.google.com/books?id=JvmZbFMxCHsC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=congressional+district+james+monroe+james+madison+first+congress&source=bl&ots=dIc2kuaBqW&sig=RJQNH96SNuZyGwEiuXJmEIktLgc&hl=en&ei=jMZRTc2LHIXGlQep64jiCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=congressional%20district%20james%20monroe%20james%20madison%20first%20congress&f=false)