YAKIMA -- Two more candidates -- one a product of old media, the other a product of new media -- have joined the race for the 4th District U.S. Congress seat held by Doc Hastings, R-Pasco.
Don Moody, 56, of Wenatchee is an author and spent more than two decades as a radio newsman. John Gotts, 40, of White Salmon is an Internet entrepreneur who made news two years ago with his ultimately doomed $3 million purchase of Wiki.com. Both plan to run as Democrats, and both have fairly radical ideas for economic policy.
Moody, a student of history, proposes a "kind of a Roosevelt approach" to reviving Central Washington's economy. He would push for federal subsidies to increase wages for people who live in depressed areas and make less than the median income. That money would start in workers' accounts but it would filter its way through everything from restaurants to school districts, he said.
"It's a serious proposal," Moody said. "I think it will catch on."
Gotts first became a player on the Internet-investment scene a decade ago when he launched the successful anti-spyware company PCsafe.com with his father. He also owns Searching.com and is working on a new streaming news Web site. His economic policy would use the venture capital model that has funded so much of the Internet's development. The only difference is his plan would use public startup money via federal grants for inventors, who would then go to venture capitalists for the rest.
"It's the way they do it in Silicon Valley," Gotts said.
On the subject of fundraising, it's important to note that neither Moody nor Gotts has done any.
That puts them about $100,000 behind George Fearing, a Tri-Cities attorney who launched his own campaign as a Democrat more than a year ago. Fearing has the support -- to the tune of a $5,000 donation -- of the state Democratic Party and has repeatedly made the rounds of the district's cities and towns. He was in Yakima last weekend, speaking at the county Democratic Party's convention.
"We've been supporting him all along," Yakima County party Chairman Paul George said. "A lot of us have contributed to his campaign."
The county party has not officially endorsed Fearing, however, and George said it would welcome contact with either Moody or Gotts. He had not heard of either candidacy until being contacted to comment for this story.
Hastings, who formally announced earlier this month that he would seek re-election, has held the position since 1994. Congressional Quarterly, which keeps tabs on all upcoming Congressional elections, currently lists the seat as "safe Republican" meaning "an upset is virtually impossible."
* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.
E-mail
Print
Weather/Forecast
