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Left: Rep. Frank Lucas enjoys visiting with his constituents face to face. Courtesy photo. Center: Lucas is the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. Photo courtesy of the House Agriculture Committee. Right: Lucas visits with a member of Northfork Electric Cooperative while attending one of the cooperative’s annual meetings. Photo by Mark Daugherty/WFEC


“I have learned what a good crop is and what


a bad crop is,” Lucas said, reminiscing his early farming memories. While farming, Lucas began saving money to go to school. He attended a junior college in Sayre, but later transferred to Oklahoma State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics in 1982.


A Neighbor’s Vision Upon graduation, Lucas went back to the farm. In 1984, a neighbor motivated Lucas to run for the Oklahoma House of Representatives; he ran and lost by a narrow margin. But the loss did not stop his neighbors from stirring Lucas— they saw in him the potential of great leader- ship.


Today, Lucas represents Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District (former 6th District with slight changes), which includes all or portions of 32 counties in northern and western Oklahoma, stretching from the Oklahoma Panhandle to part of Tulsa, and from Yukon to Altus in the southwest. This district occupies 48.5 percent of the state’s landmass.


In 1986 he ran again, and lost by approximately 90 votes. In August 1988, Lucas married his life partner, Lynda, a dear friend from high school who had also been raised in the community of Cheyenne. “At that point I thought I was done in poli- tics,” he said. But he was not. “Gov. Bellmon called me one day and asked me to run again. I ran for the third time, won solid and got re-elected the next couple of times.”


On May 10, 1994, Lucas became the


Republican nominee for a special election to represent Oklahoma’s 6th District in Congress. The opportunity became available because for- mer 6th District representative, Glenn English from Cordell, Okla., stepped down to lobby on behalf of rural electric cooperatives. English be- came the chief executive offi cer for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the ser- vice arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer- owned electric cooperatives, including Lucas’ own Northfork Electric Cooperative. In that special election, Lucas faced Dan Webber, then press secretary to former Oklahoma Governor and U.S. Senator David Boren. Lucas won the election, as he has won every election since.


A Family’s Journey The next 20 years followed with a strong sense of pride and fulfi llment, but not without many sacrifi ces from the Lucas family. When Lucas yielded to the call to Congress, his children were young. His oldest daughter Jessica was 11, his second daughter Ashlea was 7, and his youngest, Grant, was 3. In addition, Lucas and his wife managed wheat crops and a cow-calf operation at their family farm in Roger Mills County. “Lynda had to make 51 percent of the farm’s decisions at that time,” Lucas said, describing the years in which his children were growing, and he was away during the week for nine months of the year while Congress was in ses- sion. “I fl ew home on the weekends and went to church on Sundays in our community. My kids attended the local public school system. I always thought a member of Congress should still be a part of his local community.” During the summer months, the Lucas chil- dren had the opportunity to visit their father in Washington, D.C., and spend quality, educa- tional time in the nation’s capital. “The life of a member of Congress … the way


we lead our lives, is not much different than people who drive trucks,” Lucas said. “I always tried to remind myself when you’re home, you need to focus more intensely on being home and spend quality time with your family.” Lucas fi rmly believes in the value of staying connected to those he serves. An avid supporter of his local community, Lucas said no matter how many years he may continue to serve in


Congress, he will always take pride in being a resident of Oklahoma.


“I will always be a resident of Roger Mills


County. I am the member at the end of the line for my electric cooperative, Northfork Electric. I’m at the end of the line for my cooperative water line. I’m at the end of the line for a local independent phone company, and I will always be at the end of a dirt road,” he said smiling.


Crusade for Agriculture As a congressman, Lucas’ core principle is to spend time interacting with his constituents. He believes in the effectiveness of town hall meet- ings and makes every effort to hold them as frequently as possible. “The face-to-face interaction is great. I like to look the people I serve in the eye. That’s how I know how they feel about what’s going on,” Lucas said. “A lot of folks serving in Congress spend money on polling, but I choose to look my constituents in the eye.” This philosophy has earned Lucas the utmost


respect of his constituents. Elk City resident and cotton farmer, Danny Davis, has known Lucas for 20 years. Davis said he has great admiration for Lucas and knows he can fully trust the congressman. “He is in touch with reality and has never lost sight of what he is supposed to do in Washington. I admire his tenacity for standing up for people’s needs. He is the epitome of a diplomat and the perfect example of what government should be,” said Davis, who is also a member and a board trustee of Northfork Electric Cooperative. “He is always accessible and in touch with those he represents. One of his greatest attributes is his staff. He has surrounded himself with intel- ligent and genuine folks.” Lucas’ driving force while in Congress is to be a strong voice for agriculture, a feat he has ac- complished remarkably well.


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