The 3rd, bordering Missouri in eastern Kansas, differs markedly from the state's other districts. Geographically compact, it is almost entirely within the metropolitan sphere of Kansas City, Mo. Its population is mainly in the graceful suburbs of Johnson County, in the grittier urban environs of Kansas City, Kan., and in Lawrence (home to the University of Kansas and its 29,000 students).

There are sharp contrasts within the 3rd. Non-Hispanic whites make up more than 90 percent of Johnson County's population. But more than a third of the residents in Kansas City (in neighboring Wyandotte County) are black or Hispanic. The 1990 census reported a poverty rate in Johnson County of 3.6 percent; Wyandotte's rate was nearly five times higher.

Johnson County, with more than 350,000 people, dominates the 3rd; it usually tilts the district to GOP candidates, including Meyers, a county native. But Wyandotte County sometimes provides a counterbalance that gives Democrats a fighting chance. In 1992, Bill Clinton scored a rare Democratic win over George Bush in the 3rd. Bush won Johnson (though with 44 percent, nearly 20 percentage points below his 1988 figure). Clinton took Wyandotte with 55 percent, by far his best showing in Kansas.

Johnson County has been booming since the 1960s. The growth has turned Overland Park into a satellite city with more than 110,000 residents. Numerous companies are based in Johnson, which bills itself as "Executive Country." Westwood is home to U.S. Sprint. Residential growth has spread to exurban areas west of Overland Park. Olathe, the county seat, has more than 63,000 residents. Lenexa, a farm town of 2,400 in 1960, is now a city of 34,000.

Bordering to the north is Wyandotte County and Kansas City. Overshadowed by its namesake across the Missouri River, Kansas City, Kan., is an industrial town that has had its share of Rust Belt blues due to factory closures and the long-term decline of urban stockyards. But Kansas City maintains a large industrial base and has attracted some growth in its biotechnology sector. Successful efforts by Kansans in Congress to place a new federal courthouse here and to transfer a regional Housing and Urban Development office from Kansas City, Mo., have provided a boost.

To the west, the 3rd takes in Lawrence and most of Douglas County. The county's eastern portions along state Route 10 are becoming increasingly suburban. University-centered Lawrence has some liberal activists, but the outlying farm areas lean Republican. Bush in 1988 carried Douglas, but with just 50 percent; the county swung to Clinton in 1992 by 46 percent to 31 percent. Meyers carried Douglas narrowly in both 1992 and 1994.

At the district's southern end is Miami County, which is lightly populated and has a Republican tilt, though that has been tempered by some recent economic troubles. Clinton narrowly won it in 1992.