Sex-Scandal Figure Lukens Loses Ohio Race
Ohio Rep. Donald E. (Buz) Lukens, who was disgraced by a sex scandal, lost his seat in a Republican primary Tuesday.
Lukens, who had refused Republican Party advice to retire after he was convicted of a misdemeanor last year for having sex with a teen-ager, apologized to voters and proclaimed his innocence.
He finished third in the primary in western Ohio’s 8th District. With 99% of the vote counted, State Rep. John Boehner won with 24,978 votes, followed by former Rep. Thomas Kindness with 16,239, Lukens with 8,634 and Mort Meier, a bond underwriter, with 709.
Elsewhere, GOP Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Democratic Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV of West Virginia easily captured nominations for new terms.
In North Carolina’s Democratic Senate primary, Harvey Gantt, the black former mayor of Charlotte, struggled to avoid a runoff as he led a crowded field for a chance to oppose the arch-conservative Helms in November.
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