GOP Candidate Matched Against a Popular Governor : Michigan Black Faces Uphill Fight

He is a black, urban politician from his state’s biggest city, ready to square off against a white incumbent in his bid to become the nation’s first black elected governor.

And William Lucas, the conservative county executive of Wayne County (Detroit), who won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the Michigan primary Tuesday, has one other thing in common with his liberal Democratic counterpart in California, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley--his prospects for winning in November look bleak.

Lucas, a 58-year-old former Democrat who defected to the Republican Party last year, won the right to wage an uphill battle against the popular Democratic incumbent, Gov. James J. Blanchard. Blanchard, a former Detroit-area congressman, has soared in popularity as a result of the relatively strong economic rebound Michigan has enjoyed since he was first elected in the midst of the recession in 1982. A June poll by the Detroit News found that 73% of those surveyed approved of the way Blanchard was running the state.

A Kind of ‘County Mayor’

But, at a post-election press conference on Wednesday in this Detroit suburb, Lucas said he remains confident he can upset Blanchard. Lucas, an ex-FBI agent and former sheriff in Wayne County, is the highest elected official of the county, in effect, a kind of “county mayor.”

His strategy is to carry traditional Democratic strongholds of Wayne County and Detroit, in part, by persuading large numbers of Detroit blacks to vote Republican for the first time.

“Everyone should be aware of my support in Detroit,” Lucas said. “There is no doubt in my mind that Detroit and Wayne County are going to be Lucas country.”

Final vote totals released Wednesday showed that Lucas won a surprisingly easy victory over his closest rival, businessman Richard Chrysler. Lucas got 44.4% of the vote to Chrysler’s 34%. State Rep. Colleen Engler, mentioned as a possible Lucas running mate, got 11.1%, while Oakland County (suburban Detroit) Executive Daniel Murphy ran last with 10.5%.

Does Well in White Areas

Lucas did well in both the predominantly white Republican strongholds in rural Michigan and in the metropolitan Detroit area. But surveys of voters leaving the polls showed that he had only limited success in persuading black Democrats to vote in the Republican primary so they could support him. (Michigan voters do not register by party and may vote in either primary.)

Lucas’ victory came as a relief to Republican leaders in Michigan and Washington, who had wooed him away from the Democratic Party last year as part of a nationwide campaign to persuade disenchanted Democratic politicians to switch sides. Party leaders were concerned that, if Lucas lost in the primary, it might be more difficult in the future to persuade other Democrats, especially blacks, to defect.

Still, Lucas nearly did lose to Chrysler, an independent businessman without party backing who spent $3 million of his own money on a massive media blitz. Chrysler, who has no connection to the Chrysler Corp., outspent Lucas by a margin of more than 3 to 1. He held an edge in the opinion polls until a few days before the primary, when the Detroit News published a lengthy account of allegedly illegal business practices at the company he founded, Cars & Concepts Inc. of Brighton, Mich.

Paper Quotes Ex-Workers

The News quoted by name several former employees who said that Chrysler had sanctioned a scheme in 1978 under which they would collect state unemployment benefits while continuing to work for the company without pay.

The News account, along with earlier negative stories concerning Chrysler’s personal life and business background, was devastating to Chrysler’s campaign. Exit polls conducted by the newspaper found that nearly three out of four voters were aware of the negative stories about Chrysler, and 41% of those people said the stories made them less likely to vote for him.

Lucas also had been hurt earlier in the campaign when conflict-of-interest charges were leveled against one of his key aides in the awarding of a county contract, and also when it was discl1869833572student loan. But the charges against Chrysler appeared to be more serious and were disclosed just before the primary. As a result, they had a dramatic influence on the voters, the exit polls showed.