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 73% 24% 80% 17% 1997 71 29 82 16 1996 73 27 84 16 1995 71 29 82 16 1994 72 28 84 15 1993 72 28 85 13 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 97 1997 98 1996 99 1995 98 1994 99 1993 98	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 90% n/a 17% 20 % 1997 80 100 40 20 1996 75 91 25 20 1995 75 92 38 28 1994 70 100 42 24 1993 70 100 9 17
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

MICHIGAN 1 : Upper Peninsula; northern Lower Michigan

Rolling, forested hills and hundreds of inches of snow make the 1st one of the few places suited to skiing in the Midwest. Beaches and resorts around Traverse City and Petoskey also lure summer vacationers from Milwaukee and Chicago, feeding the area's tourist industry. But most of the 1st saw its economic foundations erode in the 1990s.

The Upper Peninsula (UP), surrounded by three of the Great Lakes and connected to the rest of the state by the Mackinac Bridge, is still recovering from two military base closures. Mining, which once drew immigrants to remote parts of the state, hasn't been a growth industry since the turn of the century. NAFTA has effectively killed most remaining copper, paper and iron production. Many "Yoopers" hope redevelopment grants will help sprout some local industry, but tourism and recreation are the only growth industries. Steady depopulation in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula has gradually expanded this district's territory to encompass about 40 percent of the state's total land mass.

As a whole, the 1st backs Democratic candidates, but even the most liberal voters tend to be socially conservative. A strong tradition of union organization among miners and mill workers has left the western and central UP strongly Democratic, a preference shared by the eastern counties in the northern part of the state. At the top of the "mitten," the state's northwestern counties, with their growing population of retired executives, tend to go for Republicans.

Major Industry
Mining, logging, tourism, auto parts

Population
581,006 (1990)

Cities
Marquette, 17,016; Traverse City, 15,082; Sault Ste. Marie, 15,300 (1996)

People
69% rural; 16% age 65+ (ranks first of 16 in state; top third nationally); 60% married couples, 27% married couples with children; 15% college educated (ranks eighth of 16 in state; bottom third nationally); 49% white collar (ranks 13 of 16 in state; bottom third nationally), 30% blue collar (ranks ninth of 16 in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Race
96% white, 1% black, 0% Asian; 1% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$22,788 (ranks 15 of 16 in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Isle Royale National Park; National Ski Hall of Fame; Interlochen Center for the Arts.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company