Nethercutt Votes With Gop 95% Of The Time At 98%, Hastings Follows Party Line More Often Than Anyone Else

Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., has voted with majority Republicans more than any other freshman in the House of Representatives so far this year, Democrats critical of the “lock-step” voting said Tuesday.

Hastings led his freshman class with a 98 percent GOP voting record, according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

No freshman Republican from the Pacific Northwest broke from party ranks more often than about one in 10 votes, with Rep. Jim Bunn, R-Ore., on the low end. He voted the way his party wanted him to 89 percent of the time, the Democrats said.

All other GOP newcomers from the region stuck with the party line more than 90 percent of the time, according to the voting analysis for January through August 1995.

Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., who unseated House Speaker Tom Foley, voted with the Republican majority 95 percent of the time. Washington Reps. Rick White, Linda Smith and Randy Tate scored 93 percent.

Reps. Jack Metcalf of Washington and Wes Cooley of Oregon were with the GOP on 91 percent of the votes.

None of the 73 freshman Republicans in the House stuck with the Republican party line less than 84 percent. New Jersey Republicans Bill Martini, at 84 percent, and Frank LoBiondo, at 86 percent, were at the low end of the list along with Virginia Rep. Tom Davis and Pennsylvania Rep. Jon Fox, both at 85 percent.

Several Republicans welcomed the ratings as a sign they are sticking to their campaign promises and working to implement House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America.”

“This is a very healthy sign for the Republican Party,” said Dave Redmond, Cooley’s chief of staff.

“It ought not surprise anyone that Republican freshmen, Wes Cooley included, are voting the way they promised they would vote. The Democrats still don’t get it,” he said Tuesday.

Hastings, a former state lawmaker who represents largely rural central Washington, casts his votes based on “two guiding principles,” his spokesman, Doug Riggs, said Tuesday.

“First is his conscience and the second are the views of his constituents,” Riggs said.

“Doc campaigned on the platform of cutting spending and balancing the federal budget, and his voting record reflects that commitment,” Riggs said.

Democratic Rep. Martin Frost of Texas, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said 85 percent of the GOP freshmen nationally voted with Republican leadership more than 90 percent of the time.