President Says GOP Is ‘Party of All Americans’ : Reagan Stumps for Michigan Black, Nebraska Woman

President Reagan, campaigning Wednesday for a black Republican gubernatorial candidate in Michigan and a woman candidate in Nebraska, declared that “the GOP is the true party of opportunity, the party of all Americans--women and men, black and white.”

“We are showing as never before that we are truly the land of opportunity,” Reagan said in Detroit, where he made two speeches on behalf of William Lucas, the chief executive of Wayne County. Lucas, a former Democrat, is running against incumbent Democratic Gov. James J. Blanchard.

$500,000 Raised

The fund-raising luncheon that Reagan addressed raised an estimated $500,000 for the Republican Party, making it the most successful single financial event in state GOP history.

Nebraska Treasurer Kay Orr, the Republican candidate for governor in that state, traveled with Reagan throughout the day and was the focus of his remarks at the end of the trip at the Omaha civic center.

Orr’s candidacy shows the new vistas that “our nation has come to offer to men and women alike,” Reagan said. Nebraska will elect a woman as governor no matter who wins--Orr’s Democratic opponent is Helen Boosalis, former mayor of Lincoln.

The President’s themes throughout the day focused on what he called the broader appeal of the Republican Party for a wide variety of citizens.

In Detroit, he said Republicans “don’t choose someone based on his or her race or sex in an attempt to curry favor from this or that group.”

“We are looking for leaders who share our ideals and have the talent necessary to get the job done. Republicans are looking for the best candidate,” Reagan said.

In Nebraska, he noted that the two women in the U.S. Senate, Nancy Landon Kassebaum of Kansas and Paula Hawkins of Florida, are Republicans. The party has five women running for governorships, he said.

The GOP has done better in recruiting female candidates than it has done in enticing blacks into the party, according to figures by the Joint Center for Political Studies and the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Of 113 black state legislators, only one is Republican. All 20 black congressmen are Democrats.

The only two women governors, Martha Layne Collins of Kentucky and Madeleine M. Kunin of Vermont, are Democrats, but the GOP nearly matches the Democrats in female members of the U.S. House: 11 are Republicans and 12 are Democrats.

The crowds in Detroit and Omaha were large and enthusiastic, although Reagan was heckled in Omaha by a group of about 60 youths who attempted to interrupt his speech with chants of “We want peace,” “What about the farmers?” “Hands off Nicaragua” and “Stop the nuclear arms race.”

Reagan briefly paused and said: “As long as I’ve got this microphone on, I’ll out-sound them.”

The demonstration was unusual, in part because GOP advance teams frequently screen invitations to Reagan’s speeches. Three of the youths were detained by police and later released.

‘Be Personally Involved’

In Detroit, Reagan said that “it is incumbent upon all of us who so strongly believe in an opportunity society to be personally involved in campaigns like this one here in Michigan.”

Blanchard, who raised taxes to balance a state budget ravaged by the auto industry’s recession, “has done everything in his power to get his hands in your pocket,” Reagan said.

Later in Omaha, he said Orr “believes in the same things you and I do. The way to move Nebraska ahead isn’t by inflating the government budget at the expense of the family budget, but by keeping taxes equitable and low.”

Reagan acknowledged that farmers are facing economic difficulty but contended that his Administration has put more money into farm support than previous presidents. “Yes, times are still hard for many Nebraska farmers, but they’ve begun to get better,” he said.

A survey released last week by Detroit station WDIV-TV said Blanchard led Lucas in the Michigan contest, with the incumbent backed by 48% of the 400 registered voters polled. Lucas was favored by 29%, with 23% undecided.

In Nebraska, Orr was favored by 44% in a poll of 902 registered voters, reported in the Sunday World Herald. Boosalis was favored by 33%.