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 80% 17% 96% 2% 1997 75 25 94 5 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 99	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 100% n/a 22% 4 % 1997 100 100 20 12
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 6 : North Shore - Lynn; Peabody

Pristine beaches line the cool ocean of Boston's North Shore, home to some of the most exclusive homes in the 6th and the state. Country clubs, fox hunting and polo matches are popular diversions for residents of the northern inland, where the population is sparse but wealthy. The population is denser along the Route 128 high-tech corridor, which forms the district's southern border.

Like much of Massachusetts in the 1990s, communities along Route 128 turned from a manufacturing- to an information-based economy. Fueled in part by Boston's universities, high-tech firms have flourished from Burlington to Gloucester, which also supports a major fishing industry. Lynn, the 6th's largest community, is home to aerospace and defense contractors.

Urban dwellers are concentrated mostly in Lynn, Haverhill and Peabody and furnish blue-collar and minority votes for Democrats. Northern well-to-do towns from Georgetown and Rowley to Gloucester provide Republicans with local legislative seats. Members of both parties have been able to win the 6th by attracting independents; nearly half of all voters are listed as "unenrolled" in either party.

Major Industry
Computer software, defense, fishing

Military Bases
Hanscom Air Force Base, 1,483 military, 1,561 civilian (1998)

Population
601,811 (1990)

Cities
Lynn 80,563; Haverhill 53,952; Peabody, 48,365 (1996)

People
84% urban; 14% age 65+ (ranks seventh of 10 in state; top third nationally); 56% married couples, 26% married couples with children; 27% college educated (ranks sixth of 10 in state; top third nationally); 66% white collar (ranks fourth of 10 in state; top third nationally), 21% blue collar (ranks sixth of 10 in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Race
95% white, 2% black, 1% Asian; 3% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$40,836 (ranks third of 10 in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Salem witch trials of 1692; This district holds most of the territory that spawned the original "gerrymandered" district, named after the 1812 governor, Elbridge Gerry; Parker Brothers, maker of "Monopoly," based in Salem.

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