U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, won’t attend next week’s Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

The congressman, who also skipped the 2004 convention, will be working that week, spokesman Will Marlow said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C.

“He just made the decision not to go,” Marlow said. “He’s going to be doing his job as a congressman.”

Hastings has attended several conventions in the past, starting with 1976 when he was a delegate for then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan.

And, though he won’t be in attendance next week, Hastings already has thrown his support behind Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He endorsed McCain in February after the Super Tuesday primaries all but guaranteed the senator victory.

Hastings’ schedule for next week has not been released yet. He has made numerous public appearances in the past month in his Central Washington district and last week issued a statement thanking supporters for his 62 percent showing in the Aug. 19 primary.

“We’re now headed toward November, and I intend to run as hard as ever,” he said in the statement.

-- Pat Muir