Former GOP Rep. George Nethercutt, who defeated House Speaker Tom Foley in 1994, dies at 79

Former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt has died at age 79. Nethercutt was a Spokane lawyer with limited political experience when he ousted Democratic Speaker of the House Tom Foley in 1994. Nethercutt's son said he died Friday near Denver of a rare, neurodegenerative brain disease. Nethercutt was the chairman of the Spokane County Republican Party. He had served in the 1970s as chief of staff to Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens but had not run for office before challenging Foley, who had been in office for 30 years. Foley was the first speaker to lose a reelection bid since 1860.