Through a window at Ken Lucas' campaign headquarters, a visitor can see a jet plane climb from takeoff at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, soaring diagonally over the candidate's left shoulder, then above his head. The airplane's steady rise is like Lucas' life in public office. But rather than continue the gradual ascent, perhaps with a bid for a state government office, Lucas is running as a Democratic candidate for the 4th Congressional District in Northern Kentucky. He faces Howard Feinberg, a Russell osteopath, in the May 26 Democratic primary. Lucas' move beyond the Cincinnati area comes at the right time, he said, and actually isn't as much of a departure as it seems.
Public service is just an extension of community service.
Now my community would be 22 counties. He served in the Air Force, rising to the rank of major, and in 1970 earned a master's degree in business from Xavier University in Cincinnati. In 1971, he helped start up Boone State Bank, later becoming president and board chairman before the bank merged with Fifth Third Bank in 1985. Elected office was another way to be active in the community, Lucas said, and he served as a councilman and commissioner for 15 years until opting not to run for re-election in 1982. Robert G. Cooper, past chairman of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, agreed.