Disgraced former Ohio congressman Donald ‘Buz’ Lukens dies at age 79

Disgraced former Ohio congressman dies at 79

DALLAS — Former U.S. Rep. Donald “Buz” Lukens of Ohio, once a rising conservative star in state politics before a string of scandals abruptly ended his career, has died. He was 79.

Lukens died of cancer at a Dallas nursing home Saturday, said his sister, Lois Short of Springfield, Ohio.

Lukens was convicted in 1989 of paying a 16-year-old girl from Columbus for sex. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail fined $500.

The scandal cost him the 1990 Republican primary, where he lost to then-state Rep. John Boehner, now the House minority leader in Congress.

Lukens resigned his seat Oct. 24, 1990, less than three months before his term was to expire, rather than face an investigation by the House ethics committee, which planned to look into allegations of sexual misconduct.

Lukens also was mired in legal trouble because of a scandal involving the now-defunct House bank, which benefited Congress members by offering unlimited penalty-free checking overdrafts.

Later accused of taking $15,000 in bribes from two Cincinnati businessmen, Lukens was convicted on a felony charge of bribery in 1996 and sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Lukens denied that he ever exchanged votes for money.

A supporter of Barry Goldwater and an early, enthusiastic booster of Ronald Reagan, Lukens rose quickly as a Republican and conservative activist from southwest Ohio.

First elected to the House in 1967, he made an unsuccessful bid at the 1970 GOP nomination for governor. He was later appointed to the Ohio Senate and elected to Congress in 1986 and 1988.