View source for Ron Lewis

{{Short description|American politician (born 1946)}}
{{Other people|Ronald Lewis}}
{{use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Ron Lewis
| image = Ron Lewis, official 109th Congressional photo.jpg
| state = [[Kentucky]]
| district = {{ushr|KY|2|2nd}}
| term_start = May 24, 1994
| term_end = January 3, 2009
| predecessor = [[William Natcher]]
| successor = [[Brett Guthrie]]
| birth_name = Ronald Edward Lewis
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|9|14}}
| birth_place = [[Greenup County, Kentucky|McKell]], [[Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse = {{marriage|Kayi Gambill|1966}}
| education = [[University of Kentucky]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Morehead State University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
}}
'''Ronald Edward Lewis''' (born September 14, 1946) is an American retired [[politician]] who was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1994 to 2009, having represented the [[Kentucky's  2nd congressional district|2nd congressional district]] of [[Kentucky]].

Lewis announced on January 29, 2008, that he would not run for an eighth term.

==Early life, education, and career==
Lewis was born in McKell near [[South Shore, Kentucky|South Shore]] in [[Greenup County, Kentucky|Greenup County]] in far northeastern Kentucky. He graduated in 1964 from McKell High School. He attended [[Morehead State University]] in [[Morehead, Kentucky|Morehead]] in [[Rowan County, Kentucky|Rowan County]] from 1964 to 1967 and graduated from the [[University of Kentucky]] at [[Lexington, Kentucky|Lexington]] in 1969 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in [[history]] and [[political science]]. Lewis returned to Morehead in 1980 to earn a [[master's degree]] in professional [[education]] in 1981.

At twenty-one, Lewis worked in the 1967 gubernatorial campaign of [[Louie B. Nunn]] of [[Glasgow, Kentucky|Glasgow]]. Nunn's victory got Lewis a state job for a time and encouragement to run in 1971 for the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]] in his native Greenup County. Though he lost the legislative race in a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] year in Kentucky, Lewis maintained an interest in [[Republican Party (United States)|GOP]] politics. In 1972, Lewis served briefly in the [[U.S. Navy]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.war-veterans.org/Vetlegis1.htm |title=Vets Legislation Wash.D.C. |accessdate=2006-08-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060221132417/http://www.war-veterans.org/Vetlegis1.htm |archivedate=2006-02-21 }}</ref> attending the Navy [[Officer Candidate School]] in [[Pensacola, Florida]]; a [[kidney]] ailment resulted in a quick medical discharge.

Lewis worked in sales for several companies, including [[Ashland Oil]], before teaching for five years at [[Watterson College]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville]], Kentucky, having begun in 1980. (The school closed in the 1990s.) He also was ordained as a [[Southern Baptist]] minister in 1980, having served as pastor for the historic White Mills Baptist Church, after attending the [[Southern Baptist Theological Seminary]] in Louisville. In 1985 Lewis opened a religious bookstore, Alpha and Omega Bookstore, in [[Elizabethtown, Kentucky|Elizabethtown]]. In the early 1980s, he was a pastor at Friendship Baptist Church, located outside [[Hodgenville, Kentucky|Hodgenville]].

Lewis has been married to Kayi Gambill Lewis since 1966. They live in [[Cecilia, Kentucky|Cecilia]],<ref>[https://archive.org/details/almanacofamerica00/page/678/mode/2up The Almanac of American Politics, 2000 pg. 678]</ref> near Elizabethtown, and have two children. He is a [[Southern Baptist]].

==Congressional career==
===1994 election===
In 1994, Lewis filed to run against longtime Democratic Representative [[William Huston Natcher|William H. Natcher]] in the general election in November 1994. The Second District was predominantly [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] in terms of voter registration, and Natcher had held the seat without serious difficulty since 1953. Although Lewis had been personally endorsed  by the state GOP leadership and [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Mitch McConnell]], he was considered somewhat of a "sacrificial lamb" candidate.

The dimensions of the race changed dramatically when Natcher died in late March 1994.  A [[special election]] was called in May 1994 to replace him. In the special election, Lewis faced [[Joe Prather]], a state senator from [[Hardin County, Kentucky|Hardin County]]. Lewis got support from numerous national Republican sources and many [[social conservatism|social conservative]] groups, enabling him to run a very strong campaign in a district that had not elected a Republican in 129 years. Lewis tied Prather to an unpopular [[Bill Clinton]] and a proposal to raise taxes on [[tobacco]], the staple crop of the state. He also took advantage of the socially conservative tilt of the Second District.

In the special election Lewis defeated Prather by 55-45 percent in an election with less than 20 percent turnout—a result which is still considered a major upset. It was a result that many political pundits, as [[Larry J. Sabato]] noted in his [[Sabato's Crystal Ball|Crystal Ball]] newsletter, saw as a harbinger of the Republican gains in Congress in the regular election later that year.<ref>[http://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=LJS2006061501 Election Exceptions, Crystal Ball, U.Va<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617121613/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=LJS2006061501 |date=2006-06-17 }}</ref> Lewis was elected to a full term that November, when he defeated Democrat David Adkisson with 60 percent of the vote.

One of the centerpieces of Lewis' 1994 campaign was term limits in Washington. He was one of five Republicans who signed a pledge committing themselves to a limited number of terms if elected. He himself had promised to leave the House in 2003, after serving four full terms plus the last seven months of Natcher's term.<ref>Mark Birtel, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724070511/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2519/is_1_20/ai_53889297/pg_2 "Term-limits: as the pledges come home to roost"], ''Campaigns & Elections'', February 1999</ref> In 1998, Lewis sent a letter to 3,000 constituents in 1998 informing them he had changed his mind about running in 2002 and beyond. "I made a mistake in 1994, and I admit that. I had said I would not run past 2002," he told the Elizabethtown News Enterprise in October 1998.<ref>John Stamper, [http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/15860327.htm "Term-limits promise, 'change of heart' have candidates at odds"], ''Lexington Herald-Leader'', October 27, 2006</ref>

===Political positions===
According to the non-partisan website TheMiddleClass.org,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://themiddleclass.org/legislator/ron-lewis-218|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109012923/http://themiddleclass.org/legislator/ron-lewis-218|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-11-09|title=Ron Lewis (R-KY) {{!}} TheMiddleClass.org|date=2007-11-09|access-date=2018-08-13}}</ref> Ron Lewis has consistently voted against tax increases and expansion of social programs.

In 2004, Lewis joined numerous Republican colleagues in sponsoring legislation that would allow lawmakers to override certain Supreme Court decisions by a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate. Lewis likened his proposal to the existing right of Congress to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority.

===1996–2004 campaigns===
Lewis won a second full term in 1996 with 58 percent of the vote by beating former Kentucky Senate floor leader [[Joe Wright (Kentucky politician)|Joe Wright]] with a vote total of 125,433 to 90,483.<ref>{{cite web|last= Carle|first= Robin H.|url= http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1996election.pdf|title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5th, 1996|publisher=United States House of Representatives |page = 26}}</ref>  He did not face another serious challenge until 2006. In the 2004 election, he defeated Democrat [[Adam Smith (Kentucky)|Adam Smith]], getting 68 percent of the vote.

===2006===
In the 2006 election, Lewis defeated retired U.S. Army Colonel [[Mike Weaver (politician)|Mike Weaver]], a former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives.  Weaver gave Lewis his first credible challenge in a decade, holding him to only 55 percent of the vote.

===Committee assignments===
*Ways and Means Committee
**Subcommittee on Social Security
**Subcommittee on Trade
*Republican Policy Committee

==Retirement==
On January 29, 2008, Lewis announced he would not seek reelection in 2008 on the same day as the filing deadline; he was hoping to ensure the GOP nomination would be won by his chief of staff, Daniel London, but State Senator [[Brett Guthrie]] also filed for the race. The decision shocked and angered many prominent Kentucky Republicans,<ref name="ap">{{cite news|title=Veteran Democrat state senator to take on Lewis|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=2008-01-04|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/state/story/276005.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080129/NEWS01/80129042|title=Lewis drops re-election bid|author=Gerth, Joseph|newspaper=[[Courier-Journal]]|date=2008-01-29}}</ref> Lewis said he was tired of splitting his time between Washington and Kentucky and that serving in Congress had not been as encouraging since Democrats gained the majority in 2007.<ref name="cj130">{{cite news|newspaper=[[Courier-Journal]]|date=2008-01-30|title=Lunsford to challenge McConnell; Lewis is out|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/NEWS0106/801300833|author=Gerth, Joseph}}</ref>

On the Democratic side, State Senator [[David Boswell (Kentucky politician)|David Boswell]] of [[Daviess County, Kentucky|Daviess County]] and the Daviess County Judge-Executive [[Reid Haire]] both filed. Guthrie emerged the winner over primary rival Daniel London and then Boswell.

In 2010, Lewis announced his support for [[Kentucky Secretary of State]] [[Trey Grayson]] in the race to fill the [[United States Senate]] seat of retiring Republican Senator [[Jim Bunning]]. Grayson lost the nomination to the eventual Senate winner, Republican [[Rand Paul]].

Lewis deposited his [[Congressional archives|congressional papers]] at Baptist-affiliated Campbellsville University.<ref>''The Campbellsvillian: The Magazine for Alumni and Friends of Campbellsville University'', February 2009, back cover photograph and caption</ref><ref>"Former congressman presents papers to CU library", ''Central Kentucky News-Journal'', April 10, 2013</ref>

{{Portal|Biography|United States|Politics|Conservatism|Christianity}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{CongLinks | congbio=l000293 | votesmart= | fec=H4KY02030 | congress= }}<!--
Links formerly displayed via the CongLinks template:
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00003476 Financial information (federal office)] at [[Center for Responsive Politics|OpenSecrets.org]]
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Ron_Lewis.htm Issue positions and quotes] at [[On the Issues]]
* -->
* [http://asp.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/CandidateProfile.aspx?ci=203&oi=H Campaign 2004 Profile of Lewis] ''USA Today''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070703005207/http://socialsecurityincometax.home.insightbb.com/ Stand on taxing social security income]
* {{C-SPAN|35691}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William H. Natcher]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States representatives from Kentucky|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Kentucky's 2nd congressional district]]|years=1994–2004}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Brett Guthrie]]}}
|-
{{s-prec|usa}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Bob Etheridge]]|as=Former U.S. Representative}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States order of precedence|Order of precedence of the United States]]<br>''{{small|as Former U.S. Representative}}''|years=}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Bob Clement]]|as=Former U.S. Representative}}
{{s-end}}

{{USCongRep-start |congresses=103rd–110th [[United States congressional delegations from Kentucky|United States Congresses]] |state=[[United States congressional delegations from Kentucky|Kentucky]]}}
{{USCongRep/KY/104}}
{{USCongRep/KY/105}}
{{USCongRep/KY/106}}
{{USCongRep/KY/107}}
{{USCongRep/KY/108}}
{{USCongRep/KY/109}}
{{USCongRep/KY/110}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Ron}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:21st-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:Baptists from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Morehead State University alumni]]
[[Category:People from Elizabethtown, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People from Hardin County, Kentucky]]
[[Category:People from South Shore, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky]]
[[Category:Southern Baptist ministers]]
[[Category:Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni]]
[[Category:University of Kentucky alumni]]