George Nethercutt

Voters in eastern Washington appeared poised to hand Republicans a prize trophy late Tuesday by toppling Democratic House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and electing his Republican challenger, 50-year-old George Nethercutt. Foley's apparent defeat marked the first time since 1862, when Pennsylvanians voted out Galusha Grow, that a House Speaker has been ousted from the job by voters in his own district.

Voters in eastern Washington appeared poised to hand Republicans a prize trophy late Tuesday by toppling Democratic House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and electing his Republican challenger, 50-year-old George Nethercutt. Foley's apparent defeat marked the first time since 1862, when Pennsylvanians voted out Galusha Grow, that a House Speaker has been ousted from the job by voters in his own district.

Can the presidential campaigns use unlimited individual contributions, commonly known as soft money, to pay for a recount if there is one this year? The Federal Election Commission was scheduled to discuss the question Thursday but never got a chance to decide. The campaign for Republican George Nethercutt, a U.S. Senate candidate in Washington state, withdrew its request for an opinion. Without a question before it, the panel could not vote, so it left the old rules in place.

House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) trails his Republican challenger by 19 percentage points with less than seven weeks before the Nov. 8 congressional elections, according to a new opinion poll. George Nethercutt, an attorney and former chairman of the Spokane County Republican Party, is favored by 58% of voters, compared to 39% for Foley, said the survey conducted for KHQ-TV of Spokane.

"Reading the graphic descriptions is disgusting. It's not the way normal people act." --Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) **** "I think it is a time for people to be calm and not make snap judgments. ... I'd like to see it get over with as quickly as possible." --Rep. Darlene Hooley (D-Ore.) **** "From what I have been able to review of this report so far, there appear to me to be sufficient grounds for the House of Representatives to now begin the impeachment process." --Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.

GOP Rep. George Nethercutt beat back a primary challenge Tuesday after breaking the term-limit pledge that helped him unseat a 15-term House speaker, while an Internet millionaire won the Democratic Senate nomination. With 19% of precincts in the open primary reporting, Nethercutt won with 14,553 votes, or 44%, to former radio talk-show host Richard Clear's 6,203 votes, or 19%.

Only months after fending off a Republican-led effort to phase out the National Endowment for the Arts, Chairwoman Jane Alexander on Wednesday pressed Congress for a significant increase in funding and expressed confidence the arts agency will not be abolished.

President Clinton on Sunday urged Democrats to "wash America's windshield" of Republican disinformation as he appeared at a fund-raising gathering notable for the absence of the state's most powerful Democrat, House Speaker Thomas S. Foley.

Washington state Atty. Gen. Christine Gregoire was winning the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday in one of the hardest-fought contests as eight states went to the polls on the last big day of primaries before November. Gregoire -- the state's first female attorney general and a leading player in the $206-billion tobacco settlement of the 1990s -- was getting three of every four votes in her contest with King County Executive Ron Sims.

The American Farm Bureau estimates that sales of U.S. grains and medicine to Cuba could bring in $1 billion a year. Were it not for the 1961 U.S. trade embargo against Fidel Castro's Communist state, the Florida Straits would have become a highway of commerce long ago. The boycott made political sense in the 1960s, but Castro no longer is a threat. He remains in power but before long will join his erstwhile sponsor, the Soviet Union, on the dark pages of history.

A Republican congressman targeted by ads from a term limits group after reneging on his pledge to leave office after three terms is lashing back with a brutal attack ad of his own. Washington state Rep. George R. Nethercutt Jr.'s radio ad says U.S. Term Limits Executive Director Paul Jacob "is a convicted felon who served a long prison sentence. . . . So when you see the next U.S. Term Limits ad, recognize it for what it is--lies from convicted felons."