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MICHIGAN 8 : Central - Part of Lansing

Michigan's capital district, where Ransom Eli Olds founded Olds Motor Vehicle Co. in 1897, covers Lansing, East Lansing and some agricultural communities to the east. The dominance of General Motors, which makes Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Pontiacs in the district, is matched only by state government. Together, they employ thousands of people in the 8th.

Michigan State, the nation's first land-grant university, gave birth to the district's second-largest city, East Lansing. University students, faculty and auto workers make the whole county strongly Democratic. They're joined by voters in the northeastern portion of the district, which covers the southern outskirts of Flint, where voters tend to follow Flint's Democratic voting habits.

But further east, in largely agricultural Livingston County, the GOP holds sway. The county has been absorbing whites leaving area cities, including Detroit, Flint, Lansing and Pontiac. Livingston was one of Clinton's worst counties, although he carried the district overall in both 1992 and '96. The combination of strongly Democratic and Republican areas has made the 8th a precarious place - the district went to a Republican in 1994 but returned to the Democrats two years later.

Major Industry
State government, auto manufacturing, higher education

Population
581,072 (1990)

Cities
Lansing (pt.), 122,700 (1990); East Lansing, 48,192 (1996)

People
50% urban; 9% age 65+ (ranks 15 of 16 in state; bottom third nationally); 58% married couples, 29% married couples with children; 24% college educated (ranks third of 16 in state; top third nationally); 60% white collar (ranks fourth of 16 in state; middle third nationally), 25% blue collar (ranks 13 of 16 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
90% white, 6% black, 2% Asian; 3% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$35,911 (ranks fifth of 16 in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson hails from Lansing; Howell celebrates the honeydew harvest with its annual Melon Festival.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company