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 83% 15% 94% 5% 1997 73 27 92 6 1996 75 25 93 5 1995 87 11 95 3 1994 73 27 92 4 1993 67 32 88 5 1992 11 88 86 7 1991 22 77 84 8 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 96 1996 98 1995 97 1994 97 1993 94 1992 94 1991 92	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 100% n/a 18% 8 % 1997 100 100 20 12 1996 100 100 19 0 1995 100 100 13 8 1994 100 100 33 0 1993 95 100 0 13 1992 95 100 13 0 1991 95 100 10 15
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

VERMONT : At large

Resting on the shores of Lake Champlain and rolling through the rustic Green Mountains, the second-least populous state in the nation feels like a good, small-town neighbor.

This is the land of Ben & Jerry's, started when two friends converted an old gas station into an ice cream shop in Burlington. Small businesses mix with dairy farms and manufacturing plants, as well as with the electronics companies that arrived in the 1980s. While the high-tech boom fizzled in the early 1990s, the state is working to reignite it. There also is an effort to attract tourists, so prevalent on the ski slopes in winter, to visit the state year round, although none of Vermont's attractions are advertised on roadside billboards - state law prohibits them.

A growth spurt that began in the early 1960s, when people outnumbered cows for the first time, has altered the state's political profile. Once the bastion of Yankee Republicanism, the state moved solidly to the left with the 1980s and '90s influx of young liberal urbanites, who joined the remnants of the late 1960's counterculture settlers. In state and federal elections, the strong progressive contingency based in Burlington and surrounding Chittenden County usually out-votes the numerous Yankee libertarian conservatives, based mostly in East Montpelier and some of the Burlington suburbs. Rural areas of the state, especially the northeastern corner, also hold a few Republican votes. Democrats dominate the central swath of land along Interstates 89 and 91, as well as the southeastern corner. Many small urban centers, like Montpelier and Rutland, once reliably Republican, now have more Democrats.

Major Industry
Manufacturing, tourism, dairy farming

Population
588,654 (1998 est.)

Cities
Burlington, 39,004; Rutland, 17,605; South Burlington, 13,860 (1996)

People
68% rural; 12% age 65+ (ranks middle third nationally); 57% married couples, 28% married couple with children; 24% college educated (ranks top third nationally); 57% white collar (ranks middle third nationally), 26% blue collar (ranks middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
98% white, 1% black, 1% Asian; 1% Hispanic origin (1996)

Median Household Income
$34,077 (ranks middle third nationally) (1997)

Unusual Features
In Bristol, the Lord's Prayer Rock stands beside a road - Dr. Joseph Greene had the prayer carved into the rock in 1891, hoping it would prevent wagon drivers from cursing their horses during the muddy season.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company