Following the announcement that Doc Hastings was retiring from Congress at the end of the year,  double-digit numbers of candidates have entered the race from both the GOP and Democratic parties.

Recently, "independent" candidate Clint Didier held a fund-raising campaign designed to raise about $7,500 but ended up nearly tripling that figure, according to his campaign Facebook page.  The event brought in $22,000.   Wednesday, former Washington State Agriculture Secretary and GOP candidate Dan Newhouse issued a statement thanking supporters for helping him raise some $150,000.  Their goal had been, by the end of March, $100,000.

Those are the first two widely publicized fund-raising efforts by any of the candidates who are seriously or "exploratively" running for Doc's vacant seat.  Other candidates are soon expected to release fund-raising information - especially those who meet or exceed their goals.

An interesting source of information to help you see updated news and information about the race is on Facebook.  There is almost no information as to who created this page, but it's called "Running for Washington's 4th Congressional District Seat."   In looking over the information it appears to be a solid, non-partisan page dedicated to posting as much updated information about all the candidates, poll data, press releases, news and more.

With Hasting's retirement, what was once one of the most influential (and unbeatable in elections) Congressional seats will be wide open, and this promises to be a most interesting race.

 

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