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 24% 74% 87% 11% 1997 29 71 93 7 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 99	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 15% n/a 100% 88 % 1997 15 13 90 92
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

MISSOURI 9 : Northeast - Columbia

Besides Columbia and the far western St. Louis suburbs, the 9th consists of small towns spread among farmlands. Residents include mostly middle-class and socially conservative Democrats, although rapid suburban growth is giving way to new wealth and the rise of some Republican sections.

The 9th includes about half of St. Charles County, booming with newcomers from St. Louis. Suburban growth is also swelling nearby Lincoln, Warren, Franklin and Gasconade counties. A General Motors plant in Wentzville and a Boeing hub in St. Charles (in the 2nd) provide lots of jobs, but most of the growth has come from small businesses. A wine industry that dates back more than 150 years provides income for Gasconade and Franklin counties.

Columbia, a steadily growing and mostly middle-class city, hosts the U. of Missouri's flagship campus and a handful of medical facilities, including the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital. Farther north, many rural communities have been unable to weather the agricultural depression of the 1980s and severe floods in the 1990s. Despite a huge exodus of young people from farming families, cattle, soybean, corn and winter wheat remain economic mainstays.

Traditionally Democratic, the 9th has become a swing district due to the growth of suburban St. Louis and the decline of "Yellow Dog" Democrats in rural communities. Prior to 1996, voters elected a Republican member of Congress just once, in 1920.

Major Industry
Higher education, electronics, agriculture

Population
568,238 (1990)

Cities
Columbia, 76,756; Hannibal, 17,870 (1997); O'Fallon (pt.), 18,653 (1990)

People
51% rural; 13% age 65+ (ranks eighth of nine in state; middle third nationally); 62% married couples, 30% married couples with children; 17% college educated (ranks fourth of nine in state; middle third nationally); 51% white collar (ranks sixth of nine in state; bottom third nationally), 31% blue collar (ranks fourth of nine in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Race
95% white, 4% black, 1% Asian; 1% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$26,055 (ranks fifth of nine in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) born in Hannibal; Westminster College in Fulton, where Winston Churchill gave his "Iron Curtain" speech after World War II.

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