With his victory Tuesday, Charlie Luken becomes one of the longest-serving mayors in Cincinnati history.

        Mr. Luken, 50, has already served eight years as mayor, from 1984 to 1990 and again from 1999 to the present.

        And if Mr. Luken serves out his four-year term, he will rival Isaac G. Burnet (1819-1831) for the distinction of the city's longest-serving mayor.

        Like Mr. Burnet, Mr. Luken's service has spanned different forms of government.

        He was elected mayor by City Council in 1984 and 1985. After a 1987 charter that elected the top vote-getting council member as mayor, he was elected in 1987, 1989 and 1999.

        And Tuesday he became the first directly elected mayor in Cincinnati since 1925.

        But it didn't seem likely that Mr. Luken would be such a force in Cincinnati's history in 1979, when he lost his first campaign for City Council. Despite his famous name — he's the son of Mayor Tom Luken and nephew of Mayor Jim Luken — he came in 167 votes behind Charterite Tom Brush.

        In 1981, he was elected on his second try — and served until 1990, when he got elected to Congress.

        But Mr. Luken didn't like Washington, and in 1992 he surprised Cincinnati by coming back home to embark on a second career — as an anchor for WLWT-TV (Channel 5).

        He lacked the polish of a television personality at first, but after six years he started getting offers to move to bigger markets.

        But Mr. Luken again surprised the city, quitting his anchor job to throw his hat into the ring for City Council.

        He was again the top vote-getter, and again became mayor.

        After voters approved the direct-election system in 2000, Mr. Luken seemed destined for a coronation as the city's strongest mayor since the Progressive Era.

        But then April happened, and Mr. Luken presided over the worst rioting in the city since 1968. Two months later, former co-anchor Courtis Fuller emerged to run against him.

        And although the 44-year-old Charterite ran a strong campaign, Mr. Luken positioned himself as the candidate of steady experience.

        Throughout his career, Mr. Luken has earned a reputation as a pragmatic, conservative Democrat.

        A graduate of Purcell High School, Notre Dame University and the University of Cincinnati Law School, Mr. Luken says he's proud to be a “Cavalier, a Fighting Irishman and a Bearcat.”

        A divorced father of three adult children, he lives in the West End.

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