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Doc Hastings

Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings (born February 7, 1941), an American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1995, representing Washington's 4th congressional district. The district includes most of the central part of the state, including Yakima and the Tri-Cities. Hastings won his seventh term in the election held November 7, 2006.

Early life and education

Richard "Doc" Hastings was born in Spokane, Washington. He served in the United States Army Reserve from 1964 to 1969. He attended Columbia Basin College and Central Washington University, but did not graduate from either institution. Hastings left CWU after fall quarter and he went to California where he met his wife, Claire.

In 1967, Doc Hastings married his wife, Claire, in Sacramento, California. Together they have three grown children: Kirsten, Petrina and Colin. They live in Pasco.

Career

Career in Congress

He served in the Washington House of Representatives from 1979 to 1987, including in the capacity of Assistant Majority Leader. Hastings first ran for the 4th District in 1992, but lost to Democratic State Representative Jay Inslee by two percent. Although Hastings carried the Tri-Cities, he lost the rest of the district.

Hastings sought a rematch against Inslee in 1994. This time he won by six percentage points, capitalizing on anger at Inslee's support for the assault weapons ban (Inslee later returned to Congress as a representative from the 1st District). Hastings was narrowly reelected in 1996, but hasn't faced serious opposition since.

Hastings sits on the House Rules Committee. He is also the ranking member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. He controversially replaced Joel Hefley as committee chairman in 2005; Hefley had angered Speaker Dennis Hastert and other Republican leaders by issuing several reports and letters criticizing House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

On February 2, 2005, Hastings was appointed chairman of the House Ethics Committee's newly created subcommittee investigating the congressional page program in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal , which then determined no action would be taken against former Congressman Foley.

Scandals and Controversies

Hastings has ties to the lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, convicted of bribery of elected officials. In 1996, Abramoff and his lobbying firm had as many as 36 contacts with Hasting's office, resulting in as many as 85.57 billed hours regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Abramoff bragged to the CNMI of having "excellent" ties to Hastings. Hastings has received $1,000 from Abramoff personally and an additional $14,000 from Preston Gates and Ellis, Abramoff's lobbying firm.

Hastings has also been questioned in the Alberto Gonzales attorney firing scandal. Particularly for his chief of staff Ed Cassidy making a questionable phone call in a possible attempt to persuade John McKay in the 2004 Washington State gubernatorial election.

Hastings may have broken House rules for holding the November 22, 2003 Medicare act vote open for voting for the longest time in House history.

Additionally, Hastings has received criticism from Democrats for inaction as Chair of the House Ethics Committee, particularly in the case of Rep. Tom. DeLay. Hastings fired the existing staff for the committee and attempted to hire his own Chief of Staff, Ed Cassidy as a replacement.

Electoral history

: Results 1992–2006
Year	Democrat	Votes	Pct	Republican	Votes	Pct	3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
1992	Jay Inslee	106,556	51%	Doc Hastings	103,028	49%
1994	Jay Inslee	81,198	47%		92,828	53%
1996	Rick Locke	96,502	47%	Doc Hastings	108,647	53%
1998		43,043	24%	Doc Hastings	121,684	69%	Peggy S. McKerlie	Reform	11,363	6%
2000	Jim Davis	87,585	37%	Doc Hastings	143,259	61%	Fred D. Krauss	Libertarian	4,260	2%
2002	Craig Mason	53,572	33%	Doc Hastings	108,257	67%
2004		92,486	37%	Doc Hastings	154,627	63%
2006		77,054	40%	Doc Hastings	115,246	60%