Lewis plans run for U.S. Senate

Meet Kenneth Lewis. He is a 47-year-old African American Harvard Law graduate — and he's campaigning to become North Carolina's next US Senator.

Lewis, who has never held public office, said his experience as an attorney, a law firm founder and an active citizen of 22 years  makes him uniquely qualified to bring change in government.

"I will bring innovation to Washington," said Lewis, "Not from being a career politician but from having worked to create jobs and opportunities on the behalf of ordinary people."

Lewis, a tough critic of the Republican party, refuses to be categorized as a liberal or conservative Democrat. Instead he promises practical solutions to the nation's problems — solutions that, he said, "might not fit neatly into a box."

He said that "the GOP has chosen a clear path of obstructionism and politics rather than engaging in serious debate."

Lewis is the son of two educators — his father taught religion and is the former chaplain at Winston-Salem State University and his mother was a public school teacher.

"My parents were among the first generation in their families to go to college," said Lewis, "Both of their parents were sharecroppers in the Carolinas."

Lewis worked as a janitor and in a tobacco factory during summers to help pay for his education.

After graduation, he returned to North Carolina were he clerked for N.C. Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye, the first black Supreme Court Justice in North Carolina.

In 1987 Lewis became the first black attorney hired at Moore & Van Allen, a top Charlotte law firm,  where he became a partner within one year.

Lewis considers himself a trailblazer and says that North Carolinians are ready to look past race. 

"I've seen over the years what's required to break down barriers, and what I've learned is that people really want to get beyond these labels of skin color," he said.

Lewis began his education soon after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made discrimination illegal in public places and created uniform voting standards for rights of blacks and whites.

"During that time, there were attitudes in Winston Salem that were remnants of the past," Lewis  said. "But there were lots of people who were intent on moving forward. There were always two competing forces; people focused on the past and people focused on the future."

Lewis said he is determined to focus on the future.     A friend and former schoolmate of Michelle Obama, Lewis was a fundraiser for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.

"I watched Obama very carefully from the beginning.  The success of his campaign presented a great opportunity to continue to move the country in a new direction," he said. "I believe that my candidacy will continue that."

Lewis promises to represent North Carolina better than incumbent Senator Richard Burr.

"Our senator became the poster child for all that is wrong in Washington. He chose towing the party line over the interests of North Carolina," said Lewis about Burr, adding that Burr voted with George Bush about 90 percent of the time.

In the 2010 Democratic primary, Lewis will run against 16-year veteran Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. He said that his unique leadership skills will trump those of an old guard politico.

"She's been a career politician," said Lewis. "I will bring a much broader perspective to DC.

What people are looking for in government is leadership. Being a career politician is not the only way you can develop leadership skills."

Lewis is running on the principles of free enterprise within regulation, investment in new technology, and restoring prosperity for all.     

"The way we will continue to be prosperous is to have more well-educated, highly functioning citizens reaching their full potential."

He said that Barack Obama represents the beginning of change and vows to champion the cause of progress in the next election.

"We create the future by focusing on the future, not focusing on the past," he said.