al, how diferent is eastern ohio from the rest of the state (economically and politically)
Eastern Ohio is very, very white and makes the Cleveland area look like a picture of economic prosperity (not only is unemployment a lot higher than state average the area is blighted by underemployment
and disguised unemployment. Eastern Ohio is by far the poorest part of Ohio... although not technically as poor as Southern WV, the cost of living is higher as it's close to several large cities).
Most of Eastern Ohio is in the 6th CD (and has a populist Democrat congressman) although the part further away from the Ohio Valley is in the 18th CD (which has a protectionist GOP representative).
The area is competitive in Presidential elections (although it backed Bubba heavily, most of the counties in the area went narrowly for Bush in 2000, mainly due to Gore's views on coal and guns) generally the more mining that went on in a county, the more likely it is to go Democrat (oh, and Athens County which has a Uni in it).
It is almost certain to be the part of Ohio the Democrats target hardest in the Presidential election.
Map of Ohio's CD's: