Friday, August 06, 1999
Lucas foe $250,000 behind
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT MITCHELL — Oldham County Republican Don Bell is starting his 4th District congressional race almost $250,000 in the hole.
Mr. Bell, a retired Secret Service agent, said he has not started raising money even though Democratic incumbent Ken Lucas of Richwood has reported raising $324,208, with $243,782 in the bank.
“I would expect (Mr. Lucas) to have that amount of money,” said Mr. Bell, who was in Northern Kentucky on Wednesday campaigning at the Boone County Fair in Burlington.
“He is an incumbent. And as an incumbent he's going to have that fund-raising upper hand, that advantage. But I'm not really paying attention to that right now. I'm getting organized and getting prepared to run for Congress.”
The Lucas camp clearly sees winning the support and financial backing of the business community as an opportunity to dry up the fund-raising prospects of any GOP candidates.
“I don't know where (the Republicans) think they are going to get any funding, especial ly in Northern Kentucky,” said Bob Doyle, Mr. Lucas' Washington political strategist and fund-raiser. “People in Kentucky and in the political system in Washington are already backing Ken Lucas, and he's in a strong position to get re-elected.”
Mr. Bell said he has spent the last several weeks organizing his campaign and talking to GOP leaders in the 22-county 4th District, which stretches from Ashland to Oldham County and includes all of Northern Kentucky.
“I have several fund-raisers set up,” he said. “I'm having one in Boone County and I'm working on one in Northern Kentucky.
“But I haven't really concentrated on fund raising as much as making my case to the Republicans and getting them behind me.”
Mr. Lucas has often voted with the Republicans and moderate Democrats since elected last year. He also has already tapped many of Northern Kentucky's business leaders, often big givers to Republican candidates.
According to the campaign finance report Mr. Lucas' campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission, about $195,000 of his campaign funds have come from political action committees, or PACs. The rest came from individuals.
Many of Mr. Lucas' contributors are local business leaders and owners who historically give strictly to Republicans, or at least donate to candidates of both parties.
They include banker Mer Grayson; developers Ralph Drees, Bill Erpenbeck, Wayne Carlisle, Bill Butler, Paul Hemmer Jr., Paul Hemmer Sr. and Raymond Beil; hotel operators Dan Fay and Jim Willman; real estate firm owners Jim and Bert Huff; highway contractors R.C. Durr and Richard Crist; and lawyers Wil Ziegler and Bill Robinson.
Damon Thayer, vice chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party, said he was not “surprised or dismayed” at Mr. Lucas' fund-raising advantage.
“Ken Lucas has been raising money since shortly after he was sworn in,” Mr. Thayer said. “We know we conceded the early fund-raising advantage to the incumbent.”
Mr. Bell will have a built-in advan tage that Mr. Lucas will not have because of next year's presidential race, Mr. Thayer said.
Northern Kentucky, where about half the district's voters live, has a recent history of supporting Republican candidates, particularly for federal office.
“2000 is going to be a very good Republican year,” Mr. Thayer said. “We're going to be very strong at the top of the ticket.”
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