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 23% 76% 93% 5% 1997 31 69 94 5 1996 38 61 87 5 1995 22 77 93 5 1994 54 45 91 9 1993 47 52 90 9 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 99 1996 94 1995 98 1994 99 1993 99	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 0% n/a 100% 96 % 1997 0 0 100 92 1996 0 0 100 100 1995 5 0 100 80 1994 5 11 92 86 1993 5 0 100 91
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

WASHINGTON 8 : Puget Sound (east) - King County suburbs; Bellevue

The snow-capped peaks of Mt. Rainier and the rural communities nearby provide an allure to the 8th that has caused it to explode with suburban growth. Some of Seattle's most prosperous suburbs are in this fiscally conservative, mostly Republican district, but demographic changes could be eroding the once-dominant Republican support. The eastern portion of sparsely populated Pierce County makes up the district's lower half.

The district's 35-percent population growth in the 1980s made it the state's fastest growing. Its blue-collar working base depends on Boeing for jobs, but Boeing's 1998 announcement that it would lay off thousands of workers may cause some to leave the district in search of work.

While Republicans have won in landslides for years, the politics of the 8th are slowly changing. Fiscally conservative suburbanites vote for like-minded candidates, but the district's women voters are not committed to Republicans and many shy away from social conservatives. Blocks of Vietnamese, Russian and Cambodian immigrants are making the community more diverse and could have more influence on elections in the future. Because of traffic problems and other growth difficulties, support for a grass-roots movement known as "Lesser Seattle," which promotes slow growth, has increased in the community.

Major Industry
Logging, aviation manufacturing, software

Population
540,735 (1990)

Cities
Bellevue (pt.), 69,085; East Hill-Meridian (unincorporated), 42,696; Cascade-Fairwood (unincorporated) (pt.), 27,718 (1990)

People
75% urban; 8% age 65+ (ranks ninth of nine in state; bottom third nationally); 65% married couples, 33% married couples with children; 29% college educated (ranks third of nine in state; top third nationally); 65% white collar (ranks third of nine in state; top third nationally), 24% blue collar (ranks sixth of nine in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
92% white, 2% black, 5% Asian; 2% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$42,379 (ranks first of nine in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
First pontoon bridge made of reinforced concrete was finished on July 2, 1940, connecting Mercer Island and Seattle.

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