By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WARSAW - The gloves came off Wednesday in Northern Kentucky's 4th Congressional District race - and not because of the warm weather.

With less that two weeks left in a race that appears to be tightening, the camps for Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas and Republican Challenger Geoff Davis traded charges over resume padding and allegations of campaign finance infractions.

During a campaign stop Wednesday afternoon in the Gallatin County seat of Warsaw, Mr. Davis accused Mr. Lucas of inflating his military service by claiming he was an Air Force fighter pilot.

Davis

Lucas

Earlier in the day, Covington lawyer and Democratic Party activist Dennis Repenning had filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over contributions the Davis camp received from a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old and then returned after questions were raised about the money.

The exchange is an indication that the race is not only winding down but also likely getting closer. Both sides are not only promoting their message but are also on the attack. The battling presents a preview to what could be a lively debate between the candidates Sunday at 7 p.m. on KET statewide public television.

Speaking to a crowd of about 40 supporters in front of the Warsaw-Gallatin County Fire & Rescue Department, Mr. Davis went public with an allegation Republicans have been talking about privately for weeks. Mr. Lucas, they say, inflated the extent of his military service in past election campaigns.

Mr. Davis brought up an episode from Mr. Lucas' first election to Congress in 1998, when Democrats got campaign traction by charging that Republican Gex (Jay) Williams listed in his official bio that he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy when in fact he had attended the school for only a year.

In that election, Mr. Lucas said in a radio ad he "dreamed of being a fighter pilot" and he flew a "Lockheed Shooting Star, one of the very first jets." In a campaign mailer, Mr. Lucas listed his accomplishments as "Fighter jet pilot, Captain, U.S. Air Force, ret."

"Ken Lucas attacked his opponent in 1998, saying (Mr. Williams) lied about his military career," said Mr. Davis, himself a veteran who flew attack helicopters in the Middle East and served in the Army Rangers during the 1980s. "And he led everybody to believe he was a fighter pilot."

But "I did a little research, and guess what? He wasn't a fighter pilot," Mr. Davis charged.

Mr. Davis then linked Mr. Lucas to Gov. Paul Patton, a Democrat who is embroiled in a sex scandal in which he has admitted an extramarital affair with Tina Conner, the operator of a Western Kentucky nursing home who has charged the governor abused his power. Federal and state authorities are investigating her claims.

"Honesty, integrity, character is real critical because we saw what a lack of character has done in Frankfort," Mr. Davis said.

Ben Davis, Mr. Lucas' campaign manager, dismissed Geoff Davis' charges as the negative attacks of a desperate campaign.

Mr. Lucas, who served in the Air Force in the mid-1950s, was "technically" trained as a fighter pilot but "flew other planes as well," Ben Davis said.

"This is an issue of semantics," Ben Davis said. "And it's pretty low stuff when one candidate starts attacking another on their military record. Their message must not be resonating.

"Geoff Davis should be more concerned about federal law and Kentucky working families and spend less time digging up dirt and throwing mud," Ben Davis said.

'Candy from a baby'

The comment about "federal law" refers to a complaint Mr. Repenning filed Wednesday over $2,000 in contributions the Davis campaign first accepted and then returned to the Shehan family of Boone County.

Last week, Democrats discovered that contributions from members of the Shehan family listed on Mr. Davis' campaign finance report were given in the name of Bill Shehan Jr.'s children, who are 4 and 5 years old. Under occupation, their reports said "Homemaker."

In most instances, it is illegal for children to contribute to a campaign. Once the contributions were revealed publicly, the Davis campaign returned the money.

"It's the political equivalent of taking candy from a baby," said Mr. Repenning, who has been active in past Democratic campaigns and who represented a Democrat in a state ethics complaint filed against Gex Williams during Mr. Lucas' 1998 election.

Marc Wilson of Boone County, a GOP consultant advising the Davis campaign, said the complaint was filed to take the focus off a Davis bus tour that featured stump speaking and campaigning by U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning of Southgate, the popular Republican who represented the 4th District for 12 years before Mr. Lucas' 1998 election.

"They are trying to take the wind out of our bus tour and Jim Bunning's involvement," Mr. Wilson said.

Mr. Davis was on the third and final day of a bus tour that took him to several of the district's 24 counties, including Grant County.

"Geoff Davis stands for everything I stand for,'' Mr. Bunning said to a crowd of about 30 while standing in the back of a pickup truck parked at the Little Shrimp Restaurant in Dry Ridge. "There won't be a smidgen of difference in his votes and mine when he goes to Congress.

"That means the people will get better government, less taxes, less government ... and a straight shooter who represents the conservative values - your values - of the 4th Congressional District," said Mr. Bunning, who then went into the restaurant to shake hands and eat a cheeseburger and onion rings for lunch.

Among those in the crowd in the Little Shrimp's parking lot were Bob Dedier, 65, of Crittenden, and his sister, Joyce Dickerson, 66, of Florence.

"I think he has fresh new ideas. I think he is extremely honest, and I'm looking forward to him representing us in Congress," said Mr. Dedier, a retired salesman and Democrat who plans to vote Republican this year. "I like Geoff's agenda."

In Dry Ridge and again in Warsaw, Mr. Davis said Mr. Lucas has not done enough to bring jobs to Kentucky and, despite being the only member of Kentucky's Washington delegation on the House Agriculture Committee, has not sponsored any legislation related to farming.

"Ken Lucas has done nothing for the family farm," Mr. Davis said in Grant County, where Mr. Lucas was raised on a dairy and tobacco farm. "He supports liberal Democrats in Congress who want the (federal government) to regulate and do away with tobacco."

Ben Davis said Mr. Lucas has secured millions of dollars for job training and development, including:

$175,000 for Northern Kentucky University's Urban Learning Center, which provides mostly adults with continuing education and job training.

$1 million for the East Park Industrial Training Center, an Eastern Kentucky job training facility.

$4 million for various projects at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which economic development experts - including Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Gene Strong - have called one of the greatest generators of jobs in Kentucky.

Talk about jobs

Ben Davis also said Mr. Lucas voted for this year's Farm Bill and has supported buyout and other assistance programs for Kentucky's tobacco farmers.

Outside the fire department in Warsaw, Republican Tony Foster, 38, said he was glad to hear Mr. Davis talk about jobs.

Mr. Foster was one of about 400 people who worked at American Racing Equipment in Warsaw, a maker of auto parts and components that closed earlier this year. He now drives three hours a day to and from his job as an engineering supervisor in Louisville.

"This has been a Democratic area for a long time, but it's starting to switch over to Republican," said Mr. Foster. "People don't think they are getting good representation from Democrats like they used to."

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com