CQ Voting Studies are an annual analysis of a member's support or opposition to a given position. Interest Group Ratings are based on rankings from groups chosen to represent liberal, conservative, business and labor viewpoints.Voting Participation scores are based on the number of times a member voted "yea" or "nay" on roll call votes (not including quorum calls in the House). CQ Vote Studies Year Presidential Support Party Unity   S* O* S O 1998 85% 12% 96% 1% 1997 80 20 96 3 1996 84 15 97 2 1995 89 11 97 2 1994 78 22 98 1 1993 82 17 96 2 1992 11 87 93 5 1991 20 80 96 1 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 99 1996 98 1995 99 1994 99 1993 98 1992 98 1991 98	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 95% n/a 24% 0 % 1997 100 100 30 4 1996 95 100 19 0 1995 95 100 17 4 1994 100 89 33 0 1993 95 100 9 9 1992 100 92 25 0 1991 100 100 33 0
Note on Interest Groups: ADA=Americans for Democratic Action; AFL-CIO=American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations; CCUS=Chamber of Commerce of the United States; ACU=American Conservative Union

MASSACHUSETTS 1 : West - Berkshire Hills; Fitchburg; Amherst

The oranges of autumn, the whites of winter and the greens and Tanglewood music of spring and summer attract tourists from New York and eastern Massachusetts to the 1st. The Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts once protected American Indians from encroaching whites; 300 years later, the area serves as the home to a shrinking blue-collar and stable rural population. The district includes more than 40 percent of the state's land.

After decades as a dominant textile mill area and the world's top plastics producer, factory closures and downsizing decimated the region during the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pittsfield and Fitchburg suffered the most; General Electric reduced its defense-related workforce in Pittsfield from 11,000 in the 1980s to 2,000 a decade later. The population of many area cities continues to decline despite a modest recovery. A strong retail and plastics industry has spurred growth in Leominster.

Until the early 1990s, the 1st was a Republican stronghold. Now, rural areas east of Interstate 91 support Republicans, but the sparse population is overwhelmed by Democratic union voters in the northeast and university liberals around Amherst.

Major Industry
Plastics, paper, tourism

Military Bases
Barnes Air National Guard Base, 963 military, 277 civilian (1998)

Population
601,721 (1990)

Cities
Pittsfield, 46,315; Holyoke, 41,461; Fitchburg, 39,843 (1996)

People
44% urban; 14% age 65+ (ranks fifth of 10 in state; top third nationally); 55% married couples, 25% married couples with children; 21% college educated (ranks ninth of 10 in state; middle third nationally); 58% white collar (ranks 10 of 10 in state; middle third nationally), 26% blue collar (ranks second of 10 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
94% white, 2% black, 1% Asian; 5% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$30,417 (ranks ninth of 10 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, born in Leominster; Famous native: W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963), founder of the NAACP; In Great Barrington, first practical use of alternating current transformer, which is used today.

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