Tuskegee's Johnny Ford switches to Republican Party

Jet, Feb 3, 2003

More than a century has passed since Alabama had a Black Republican in the state legislature. But the winds of change blew into the Yellowhammer State when Democratic state Rep. Johnny Ford announced his decision to join the Grand Old Party.

"Ready or not Alabama, here we come," the Tuskegee, AL, native and former Tuskegee mayor said at a recent news conference at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery.

Ford, who has spent his 30-year political career as a Democrat, now becomes the first Black Republican in the Alabama Statehouse since Reconstruction.

"This is not a sellout and I'm not forgetting my roots," he has asserted. "I see this as an opportunity to work from within the Republican Party to bring about change and accomplish goals."

Alabama Republican Gov.-elect Bob Riley, whom Ford quietly supported during last year's election, predicted that Ford's move would open the doors for other Black lawmakers to join the Republican party. "This is the first step," said Riley, who hugged Ford on the Statehouse steps.

Ford said he hopes his more to the Republican side will eventually help bring the races closer together. "If Alabama is to move into the 21st century, we must raise the bar of all our citizens, economic opportunity and justice for all."