Doc Hastings

All you want to know about Doc Hastings

This article is about the U.S. Representative from Washington. For the Canadian footballer, see Richard Hastings.
Doc Hastings
Doc Hastings
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 1995
Preceded by Jay Inslee
Born February 7, 1941 (1941-02-07) (age 67)
Spokane, Washington
Political party Republican
Spouse Claire Hastings
Residence Pasco, Washington
Alma mater HS diploma
Occupation lumber executive
Religion Roman Catholic
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1964-1969
Unit Reserves

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.

Contents

Early life and education

Richard "Doc" Hastings was born in Spokane, Washington. He served in the United States Army Reserve from 1964 to 1969.[1] 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.[2]

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 [1], which then determined no action would be taken against former Congressman Foley.

Scandals and Controversies

Main article: Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal
Main article: Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy

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. [3] Abramoff bragged to the CNMI of having "excellent" ties to Hastings.[4] 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.[5]

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. [6]

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. [7]

See also

Electoral history

Washington's 4th congressional district: Results 1992–2006[8]
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% Doc Hastings 92,828 53%
1996 Rick Locke 96,502 47% Doc Hastings 108,647 53%
1998 Gordon Allen Pross 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 Sandy Matheson 92,486 37% Doc Hastings 154,627 63%
2006 Richard Wright 77,054 40% Doc Hastings 115,246 60%

References

Allen, Mike. "House GOP Leaders Name Loyalist to Replace Ethics Chief", The Washington Post, February 3, 2005, retrieved November 7, 2006.

Notes

  1. ^ "Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress" (PDF). Navy League. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.
  2. ^ Daily Record - Local news serving Ellensburg, Cle Elum, Roslyn, Thorp, Kittitas, Vantage, South Cle Elum, Easton, Snoqualmie and Suncadia
  3. ^ 1996 CNMI Preston Gates Ellis Invoices
  4. ^ Alicia Mundy, "Pasco Congressman in Rare Spotlight," Seattle Times, June 10, 2005
  5. ^ Think Progress » Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Pressured Former U.S. Attorney In Federal Investigation
  6. ^ David S. Broder, ""Time Was GOP’’s Ally On the Vote,"" Washington Post, Sunday, November 23, 2003, Page A01; Charles Babington, ""Ethics Panel Rebukes DeLay, Majority Leader Offered to Get Peer’’s Vote,"" Washington Post, Friday, October 1, 2004, Page A01.
  7. ^ Alicia Mundy, "Hastings says ethics panel won’t investigate DeLay," Seattle Times, October 6, 2005; "House Ethics Chair Fires Lawyers," Associated Press, Wednesday, February 16, 2005, which can viewed at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147833,00.html; "Statement of Mark Glaze, Director of the Government Ethics Program at the Campaign Legal Center, on Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings’ Decision to Remove Professional Ethics Panel Staffers," The Campaign Legal Center, February 16, 2005, found at: http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/press-1527.html; Mike Allen "House Ethics Panel in Gridlock; Democrats Refuse to Participate Under New GOP Rules," Washington Post, March 11, 2005, Page A02; Alicia Mundy, "Ethics claims target Doc Hastings," Seattle Times, June 25, 2005; Gail Russell Chaddock, "House ethics panel lapses at an awkward time," Christian Science Monitor, April 26, 2005.
  8. ^ "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved on 2008-01-10.

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jay Inslee		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Washington's 4th congressional district
1995 – present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Joel Hefley
Colorado
 Chairman of House Ethics Committee
2005–2007		 Succeeded by
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Ohio
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Hastings"

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