On February 2, 2009, he was appointed as Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Steve Beshear.

[1] Lucas was born in Covington, Kentucky and grew up on a dairy and tobacco farm in Grant County.

Due to the influence of the Cincinnati suburbs, it was widely considered one of the most Republican districts in the South.

His victory was even more remarkable since six-term incumbent Jim Bunning made a successful run for the Senate in 1998, winning largely by carrying his old district by a margin that Democrat Scotty Baesler couldn't make up in the rest of the state.

Lucas opted not to seek reelection in 2004, having promised to serve only three terms (six years) in Congress.

A member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Lucas and his wife Mary have five children.

Local and national Democratic Party leaders recruited Lucas to make a run for his old seat.

He supported President Bush's tax cuts while in Congress and also voted in favor of going to war in Iraq.