The pursuit of happiness, through a Congressional lens

By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune

Last update: March 11, 2009 - 11:17 AM

Which of Minnesota's members of Congress has the happiest constituents? That would be freshman Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen. The unhappiest? Veteran Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar.

That admittedly curious evaluation is contained in a new Gallup poll that ranks Americans' overall well-being.

While the poll, released Tuesday, found that Minnesota ranked fifth-best nationwide for health and happiness, it also drilled quite a bit deeper, evaluating the well-being of residents of all of the nation's 435 congressional districts.

It came up with a "well-being index" to rank both states and the district, by bundling together respondents' answers to questions about their emotional and physical health and economic states.

By that measure, Paulsen's constituents were the 23rd happiest in the nation. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann's were second, the 37th happiest.

In order, here's how the constituents of the rest of the Minnesota delegation ranked: Republican Rep. John Kline, 51st; Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, 99th; Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, 131st; Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum, 180th; Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, 186th, and Oberstar, 235th.

The happiest congressional district in the nation is represented by California Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo. At the bottom of the list is the district represented by Republican Rep. Hal Rogers in Kentucky.

The poll was jointly created by Healthways Inc., a Tennessee-based disease-management company with a major operation in Eagan.