Davis and Lucas spar in first debate

By John Stamper
Herald-Leader Frankfort Bureau

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis and Democratic challenger Ken Lucas questioned each other sharply tonight about negative campaign ads, the war in Iraq and Washington ethics scandals during their first face-to-face debate of the campaign season.

The two candidate’s for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which stretches along the Ohio River from Louisville's suburbs to the West Virginia border and comes as far south as northern Scott County, appeared before a crowd of about 300 at Northern Kentucky University. The debate was also broadcast on TV and radio in the Cincinnati market.

“We truly have a do-nothing Congress,” said Lucas, who asked the audience if they are “sick of the corruption and sleaze in Washington?”

Davis touted his record as “an active and effective legislator” over the past two years and emphasized that a Lucas victory might lead to a Democratic controlled House.

“If my opponents party gains control in congress, they will make Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House,” Davis said. He said the values of the national Democratic party are “out of step” with 4th District voters.

Lucas countered by alleging that Davis is a “party hack” who “does whatever the administration asks right down the line.”

Both candidates were looking to sway a sizable number of voters who remain undecided in the race, dubbed by national pundits as one of 15 toss-ups that will likely determine which political party controls Congress.

Polls in the race have teetered back and forth between the two candidates. The most recent, done by the Center for Immigration Studies on Oct. 6-7, showed Davis leading Lucas 40 percent to 35 percent, although 21 percent of the 500 likely voters surveyed were undecided.

The only major foible of the debate came when a questioner asked Davis how many U.S. soldiers had been killed in Iraq this month. Davis said he thought the death toll was 17. "It's more like 71," countered the questioner, Jamie Baker-Nantz of the Grant County News.

“I think he’s dyslexic or something,” Lucas quipped. “He minimizes what’s going on” in Iraq.

As with most key issues, both candidates offered similar positions on Iraq, saying the U.S. must win the war before withdrawing troops. “Now that we’re there we simply can’t allow that country to fall to Islamic extremists,” Davis said.

The two traded several barbs over a variety of allegations they have lobbed at each other in negative TV spots.

The most recent attack ad alleges that Lucas wrote a letter asking a judge to show compassion when sentencing Bill Erpenbeck, a Northern Kentucky homebuilder convicted of stealing $34 million from home buyers and banks.

“That’s a lie,” Lucas said. “My opponent will do anything short of murder to win this election.”

Lucas said he actually wrote a letter on behalf of John Finnan, a Northern Kentucky banker who was entangled in the Erpenbeck scandal and was sentenced to more than five years in prison. “I felt it was the right thing to do because it was a compassionate act,” Lucas said.

Davis defended his decision to keep $45,000 he has taken since 2002 from campaigns and political-action committees of three House Republican colleagues who fell from grace this year. “Those contributions were legally raised and they were legally spent in the past,” Davis said.

Lucas responded: “I didn’t say it was illegal; I said it was unethical.”

Davis and Lucas will debate again Monday night at 8 p.m. on KET.