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 88% 11% 91% 8% 1997 69 28 88 10 1996 77 23 83 15 1995 84 15 92 7 1994 71 27 92 3 1993 78 22 94 5 1992 14 84 93 5 1991 29 71 92 6 1990 15 83 92 6 S=Support; O=Oppose
Voting Participation Year % 1998 98 1997 97 1996 98 1995 99 1994 95 1993 99 1992 98 1991 99 1990 97	Interest Groups Year ADA AFL-CIO CCUS ACU 1998 95% n/a 11% 16 % 1997 80 100 30 21 1996 75 90 19 25 1995 80 100 25 8 1994 80 89 18 10 1993 90 100 27 13 1992 100 92 38 0 1991 85 92 20 15 1990 83 91 21 9
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

WISCONSIN 7 : Northwest - Wausau; Superior; Stevens Point

Encompassing more than one-fourth of the state, the 7th is the most rural district in Wisconsin. Small towns and villages, not farms, dominate the district's northern counties, where the weather makes the growing season 30 days shorter than at the Illinois border. Hundreds of lakes in the north create a tranquil lifestyle that draws more senior citizens than any other region in the state.

In the south, nutrient rich soil engenders ideal farming, although the once-dominant dairy industry has declined since the 1980s. Smaller farms, which once thrived there, are shutting down, causing farmers to sell their land to large farms or developers building suburban homes. But cities along the Wisconsin River have enjoyed a small boom in recent years from paper production and some service industries.

While the same Democrat has held the 7th's congressional seat for 30 years, without strong Democratic candidates at the top of the district's ticket, some observers think the region could lean Republican. Democrats lure strong support from the blue-collar centers of Wausau and Stevens Point in the mostly Polish south, and in Superior to the north. But the mostly Scandinavian descendants of the rural north who lean Republican, and the more recently vocal Christian Right, make some areas of the district more competitive.

Major Industry
Paper, manufacturing, dairy farming

Population
543,569 (1990)

Cities
Wausau, 36,809; Superior, 27,396; Stevens Point, 22,774 (1996)

People
59% rural; 15% age 65+ (ranks first of nine in state; top third nationally); 62% married couples, 29% married couples with children; 13% college educated (ranks ninth of nine in state; bottom third nationally); 46% white collar (ranks eighth of nine in state; bottom third nationally), 32% blue collar (ranks third of nine in state; top third nationally) (1990)

Race
97% white, 0% black, 1% Asian; 0% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$25,277 (ranks ninth of nine in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Marathon County is the nation's largest producer of ginseng; Poniatowski is exact center of the northern half of the western hemisphere; Colby cheese named after a district town; Hayward is home to the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company