Elijah Eugene Cummings was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecessor Kweisi Mfume. The district he represented included over half of the city of Baltimore, including most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County, and most of Howard County, Maryland. A member of the Democratic Party, Cummings previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996.

Maryland's 7th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives encompasses almost the entire city of Baltimore and some of Baltimore County. The district was created following the census of 1790, which gave Maryland one additional representative in the House. It was abolished in 1843 but was restored in 1950 as a west Baltimore district. It has been drawn as a majority-African American district since 1973. Democrat Kweisi Mfume is the current representative, winning a special election on April 28, 2020, to finish the term of Elijah Cummings, who died in October 2019. Mfume had previously held the seat from 1987 to 1996.