Black Politician Lucas Joins Republican Party

DETROIT — As he had indicated he would, Wayne County Executive William Lucas switched political parties to become a Republican Wednesday, inviting blacks and other Democrats to leave a party that has “kept us poor and stripped many of us of our dignity.”

Asked if the switch made him a symbol for other blacks to defect to the GOP, Lucas said: “I don’t think I would flatter myself as a symbol. . . . But I see myself as a bridge.”