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William
Lucas
was the
first
Wayne
County
Executive.
He also
worked
as a
special
agent in
the FBI,
a legal
assistant
in the
Department
of
Justice
and was
a patrol
officer
and
undercover
vice
squad
officer
in the
New York
Police
Department. |
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William
Lucas
dies at
94;
Black
Republican
ran for
governor
DETROIT
-
William
Lucas, a
Black
man who
made
national
headlines
when he
switched
political
parties
to
become
the
Republican
nominee
for
Michigan
governor
in 1986,
has died
at age
94, his
family
said.
Lucas
died of
natural
causes
Monday.
“He was
a fine
public
servant
who
provided
decades
of
dedicated
service
to the
people
of
Detroit
and
Wayne
County,”
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
said.
Lucas, a
New York
City
native,
landed
in
Michigan
as an
FBI
agent.
He quit
to
become
Wayne
County
undersheriff
and
subsequently
was
appointed
sheriff
to fill
a
vacancy.
He was
elected
in 1970
and
twice
reelected.
Lucas
won an
election
in 1982
for the
new
position
of
county
executive.
But his
biggest
political
move
came
four
years
later
when he
switched
parties
to
challenge
Gov. Jim
Blanchard,
a
Democrat.
“Bill
Lucas
has
three
million
constituents
— that’s
why the
Republican
Party is
rolling
out the
red
carpet
for
him,”
Republican
state
Sen.
John
Engler,
a future
governor,
told The
New York
Times in
1986.
Republicans
believed
Lucas
could
get
crucial
votes in
heavily
populated
southeastern
Michigan,
but
Blanchard
won in a
landslide.
Lucas
later
served
as a
Detroit-area
judge.
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