MISSOURI
Population (1994): 5,278,000 (up 3.1% from 1990), 2.0% of U.S. total
Voting-age population: 3,902,000; 1994 turnout, 45%
Median age: 33.5 years
Median household income: $30,190 ($2,074 below U.S. median)
Unemployment: 3.9% (1.7% below U.S. average, March 1996)
Last presidential election: Clinton (D): 44% Bush (R): 34% Perot (I): 22%
Congressional delegation: Six Democrats, five Republicans
Missouri, the birth state of Mark Twain and once the gateway to the West, the starting point of the Pony Express and the Santa Fe Trail, is a microcosm of America. Politically, it has voted for every presidential winner in the 20th century except Dwight Eisenhower. Geographically, it is the center of the country, containing elements of Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western regions. Economically, it has rich farmland, thriving suburbs, big cities and impoverished ghettos. As farm communities die in the north, retirement and tourist centers like Branson flourish in the south. And it's a home to the great Mississippi and Missouri rivers, which have defined much of America's identity and destiny.
WILLIAM CLAY (D) District 1 (North St. Louis; northeast St. Louis County)
BORN: April 30, 1931, St. Louis EDUCATION: St. Louis U, B.S., 1953 FAMILY: Wife, Carol Ann; three children RELIGION: Roman Catholic MILITARY: Army, 1953-55 OCCUPATION: Real estate and insurance broker POLITICAL CAREER: St. Louis board of aldermen, 1959-64; U.S. House, 1968- ADDRESS: 720 Union, St. Louis 63108. Tel.: 314-361-4141
"Wild Bill" Clay was called a militant when he went to Congress 28 years ago. The first African-American legislator from Missouri, he is still an energetic Democrat: he wanted to cancel the stamp honoring Richard Nixon, and is a persistent critic of Contract with America legislation. A friend of labor and sponsor of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Clay, who survived the 1992 disclosure of 328 House bank overdrafts, still seems solid.
THE ISSUES Budget NO Medicare NO Defense YES Abortion NO Guns YES Gays NO Bosnia NO NAFTA NO Welfare NO Medical Leave YES (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)
QUOTE OF NOTE: "[Letting states administer welfare] is a giant money-laundering scheme. It's about writing blank checks to Governors while imposing no standards or accountability."
DANIEL O'SULLIVAN JR. (R) District 1 BORN: Jan. 19, 1959, St. Louis EDUCATION: U of Missouri at Rolla, B.A., 1982; Washington U, M.B.A., 1988 FAMILY: Wife, Suzanne RELIGION: Roman Catholic MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Business consultant POLITICAL CAREER: None ADDRESS: P.O. Box 50061, St. Louis 63105. Tel.: 314-781-7187
An unknown running against an almost legendary incumbent, O'Sullivan is a clear underdog. Nevertheless, he beat out five other candidates to win his party's primary, and he's gamely offering his own business experience to the First District as a change from business as usual. O'Sullivan has a straight-arrow Republican platform--he's for term limits, budget cutting and workfare--but to soften his hard-line fiscal policy he proposes a cushion of universal health care and reduced insurance rates for the self-employed.
THE ISSUES