Hastings easily holds onto 4th District House seat

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings cruised to an eighth term Tuesday night, beating Democratic challenger George Fearing by a wide margin.

The Pasco Republican, who always says he never takes any election for granted, pulled 62 percent of vote compared with 38 percent for Fearing, who had hoped to enjoy some tailwinds from the nation’s Democratic surge.

“I’m very, very pleased that once again the voters have allowed me to represent them,” Hastings said in a telephone interview from Kennewick. “I have always worked very hard for my two-year term and I think the voters recognized that.”

Fearing did worse than Richard Wright, Hastings’ Democratic challenger two years ago. Wright received 40 percent of the vote.

Hastings campaigned on his record of removing trade barriers on agriculture, improving water storage options in Central Washington and protecting funding for the ongoing cleanup of Hanford’s radioactive waste.

Hastings hasn’t enjoyed being part of a Republican majority for two years. He was poised to be chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee until Democrats won control of Congress in 2006.

Now he’ll be even more outgunned with a Democratic president and wider Democratic majorities in Congress. But Hastings said he will still able to work with Democrats on nonpartisan issues in the 4th District, such as Hanford clean-up and agriculture funding.

Hastings, 67, also said he shares the public’s excitement about the election of the first black president. “This is a remarkable country and this is a historic time,” he said.

Hastings remains a committed, free-enterprise Republican who voted both times against the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, separating himself from the Bush administration.

Fearing, 50, suspended his Tri-Cities law practice to move to Yakima to campaign. But with this election, he was only the latest Democrat to fail in what may be one of the most reliably Republican congressional districts in the country.

Fearing said he congratulated Hastings and wished him well in the next two years. He said he didn’t know why the race hadn’t swung his way.

According to OpenCongress, a nonpartisan organization that tracks voting records, Hastings has voted with Republicans 94 percent of the time.

Fearing tried to campaign on his opponent’s close ties with the Bush administration — as have previous opponents — but voters clearly associate their longtime congressman with success on local issues.

Fearing, who finished behind Hastings 62 percent to 33 percent in the August primary, believed he would be helped by voters turning out for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

 As of mid-October, Hastings had raised $594,317 and spent $585,824 with $202,782 in cash on hand. Fearing had raised about $212,311, spending nearly all of it.

Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com