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% 18% 91% 8% 1997 79 19 91 8 1996 90 10 89 10 1995 86 13 90 10 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 99 1997 99 1996 98 1995 99	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 100% n/a 39% 8 % 1997 95 100 40 16 1996 80 73 19 0 1995 90 100 29 8
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

TEXAS 10 : Central - Austin

The once expansive rural district that Lyndon B. Johnson represented in the House (1937-49) has been shrinking in size and growing in population ever since he left. Today, the 10th is limited to Austin and surrounding Travis County, where the population explosion has brought new inhabitants, many drawn to the area's burgeoning high-tech computer industry.

Austin is largely considered a Democratic island in the vast Republican sea of the Lone Star State. A kind of Seattle for the South, Austin has been attracting young music-lovers and computer programmers in search of a hip, youthful place in a warm climate. The U. of Texas at Austin adds to the city's liberal political bent. Travis County was one of the few large counties in Texas to hand Bill Clinton a solid majority in 1996.

A troubled oil industry in the mid-1980s did not permanently wound the 10th's economy, which was buoyed by its university and state government employers. In the '90s, the area became a hub for high-tech startup firms, and its technology sector - which employs about 14 percent of the city's population - has been growing rapidly. In 1998, Fortune magazine proclaimed Austin the nation's No. 1 business city. In 1999, the city planned to open a new municipal airport on the site of the former Bergstrom Air Force Base.

Major Industry
Software development, high-tech, service, state government

Population
566,357 (1990)

Cities
Austin 541,278 (1996 est.)

People
92% urban; 7% age 65+ (ranks 25 of 30 in state; bottom third nationally); 45% married couples, 23% married couples with children; 35% college educated (ranks fourth of 30 in state; top third nationally); 70% white collar (ranks fifth of 30 in state; top third nationally), 16% blue collar (ranks 28 of 30 in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Race
73% white, 11% black, 3% Asian; 21% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$27,280 (ranks 11 of 30 in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
The city's country music scene gets national exposure on the weekly public television show "Austin City Limits"; South by Southwest, a huge pop and rock music festival in Austin, is held each spring; Austin is home to North America's largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company