Doc Hastings

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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
Religion	Roman Catholic

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.

[edit] Early life and education

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. Although he does not have a medical or other advanced degree, Hastings lists his surname as "Doc" (without the quotation marks) on the US Congress web page.

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

[edit] Career

[edit] 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 3,500 votes. 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 just under 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].

[edit] See also

• Washington United States House elections, 2006
• 2006 Dismissal of U.S. Attorneys controversy

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

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

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Congressman Doc Hastings official U.S. House website
• Doc Hastings for U.S. Congress official campaign website

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Improper Conduct Improper Contact With a U.S. Attorney in 2004