Washington, the second-most-populous state in the West, has 80 Democratic delegates up for grabs, and it presents a bit of a puzzle to candidates who have tailored their message toward economically depressed areas.

Yet even as deregulation is collapsing in the largest state, the second-most-populous state, Texas, is moving forward with its own plan, one intended, in part, to avoid California's problems.

One of the former President's sons, George W., is Governor of Texas, the second-most-populous state, and another, Jeb, is chairman of the Florida straw poll.

One reason is simply that the second-most-populous state has increasingly been voting Republican; last year voters here sent two G.O.P. senators to Washington for the first time since Reconstruction.

A year ago this week, the governor of Brazil's second-most-populous state announced a unilateral moratorium on repayment of his state's debt, a move that alarmed foreign investors and led them to begin pulling money from the country.

Probably Even though New York is the second-most-populous state in the union, it rarely plays a major role in a Presidential race.

But it appeared to be falling behind in Bihar, India's second-most-populous state.

His resignation followed the party's defeat in elections in western Maharashtra, the country's second-most-populous state.

The Legislature meets every other year for a 140-day session in which all the business of the nation's second-most-populous state must be completed.

Despite the fact that New York is the second-most-populous state in the union, it rarely plays a major role in a Presidential race.