Buz Lukens | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio | |
| In office January 3, 1987 – October 24, 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Kindness |
| Succeeded by | John Boehner |
| Constituency | 8th district |
| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Walter E. Powell |
| Constituency | 24th district |
| Member of theOhio Senate from the4th district | |
| In office January 3, 1971 – January 2, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Walter E. Powell |
| Succeeded by | Barry Levey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Donald Edgar Lukens (1931-02-11)February 11, 1931 Harveysburg, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | May 22, 2010(2010-05-22) (aged 79) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Ohio State University (BA) University of Maryland, College Park |
Donald Edgar "Buz" Lukens (February 11, 1931 – May 22, 2010) was aRepublican member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromOhio. His political career ended in 1990 when he was charged with contributing to thedelinquency of a minor. Six years later, he was convicted for accepting a bribe during his time in Congress.[1]
Lukens was born atHarveysburg, Ohio. He attended schools in Harveysburg and graduated fromhigh school inWaynesville, Ohio. He earned a bachelor's degree fromOhio State University inColumbus, Ohio in 1954. After finishing college, Lukens joined theU.S. Air Force, reaching the rank of captain after six-and-a-half years of active duty. Remaining a member of theAir Force Reserve, in 1961 Lukens accepted a job as minority counsel for the Republican staff of theHouse Rules Committee.
Lukens was president of the nationalYoung Republicans in the early 1960s.[2]
In 1966, Lukens won a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives, defeatingDemocrat James H. Pelley. He began serving in the House in 1967 (90th Congress). In 1968, Lukens won re-election, defeating Democrat Lloyd D. Miller. Lukens chose not to run again for the House seat in 1970. Instead, he made a run forGovernor of Ohio.[2] However, Lukens was defeated in the Republican primary byRoger Cloud, who went on to lose the general election to DemocratJohn J. Gilligan.
Lukens was a supporter of California GovernorRonald Reagan's campaign for theRepublican nomination for president in 1968.[2]
Lukens then was appointed to theOhio State Senate, serving from 1971 to 1986. In 1986,Tom Kindness, who held Lukens’ old seat, opted to challenge U.S. SenatorJohn Glenn rather than run for re-election. Lukens sought to take back his old seat, and defeated perennial Democratic candidateJohn W. Griffin. Lukens started serving this term in 1987 (101st Congress). In 1988, Lukens won re-election, defeating Griffin once again.
On February 1, 1989, an Ohiotelevision station caught Lukens on camera at a Columbus, Ohio,McDonald's restaurant talking with the mother of a teenage girl, and openly discussing his sexual relationship with the girl. Soon afterward, a grand jury brought charges against him of contributing to the delinquency of a minor because of allegations that he paid the girl $40 and gifts in exchange for sex when she was 16 years old. Further allegations had been made that the relationship with the girl began when she was 13, but a grand jury declined to pursue further charges against Lukens beyond a single charge of "contributing to the delinquency of a minor".
On June 30, 1989, a jury in theFranklin County Juvenile Court convicted Lukens of themisdemeanor crimes of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and contributing to the unruliness of a minor for paying $40 to the girl for sex in his Columbus apartment on November 6, 1988. A friend of the girl's, a 19-year-old, accompanied her that day, but was not directly involved. The judge set aside the conviction on the first charge but upheld the second, for which Lukens received the maximum penalty, 180 days in jail and a fine of $1,000. The judge suspended all but 30 days in jail and half the fine, and ordered Lukens to attendsex offender programs and be tested for venereal diseases.[3] Bond was set at $100,000, which the judge declared "eminently reasonable for a man with no remorse whatsoever."[4]
Though Ohio'sage of consent is 16, Lukens' conviction was under a misdemeanor statute that states that "no person shall... aid, abet, induce, cause, encourage, or contribute to a child or ward of the juvenile court (into) becoming an unruly or (delinquent) child."[5]
Lukens made an unsuccessful appeal to the Franklin County Court of Appeals. Of particular contention was that the girl had a considerable juvenile delinquency record (which included curfew violations, running away, and petty theft), but this record (as well as a psychiatric report) was ruled inadmissible. She lived with her mother, but was a ward of the Juvenile Court. Lukens' defense was that the juvenile record would show that the girl was already a delinquent and not a reliable witness. The reliability of her testimony was already under attack, as there were significant testimony inconsistencies, a fact conceded by County Prosecutor Michael Miller.[6][7]
Refusing to resign from his seat despite the demands of the Republican leadership, Lukens lost the 1990 Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—to state representativeJohn Boehner, who would later becomeSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives.
On October 23, 1990, theHouse Ethics Committee voted to investigate charges that Lukens had fondled and propositioned a Capitolelevator operator.[8] Realizing his position was untenable, Lukens resigned from Congress on October 24, 1990.[9] In January 1991 he served nine days of the 30-day jail sentence handed down in 1989.[10]
Dan Quayle, who was the incumbent Vice President at the time Lukens' sex scandal was unfolding, was ridiculed in the press for conflating Lukens with astronautBuzz Aldrin. During a speech on July 15, 1989, the gaffe-prone Quayle stated, "This next Thursday, July 20th...America celebrates the 20th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buz Lukens walking on the moon."[11]
In 1995, the task force investigating theHouse banking scandal charged him with five counts ofbribery andconspiracy related to actions he took while in Congress. He was accused of accepting a bribe of $15,000. He was convicted in March 1996 after a second trial, and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Lukens married Toshiko Shirley Jane Davis, a model 21 years his junior, in Columbus, Ohio in June 1973.[12] They divorced in 1983.[13]
Lukens died of cancer inDallas, Texas in 2010 at the age of 79.[2]
Media related toBuz Lukens at Wikimedia Commons| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forOhio State Auditor 1978 | Succeeded by Vincent C. Campanella |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 24th congressional district 1967–1971 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's 8th congressional district 1987–1990 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
