MARYSVILLE, Mich. (WWJ/AP) - A city council candidate in Michigan who said she wants to keep her community white has withdrawn from the race.
The Times Herald in Port Huron reports that Jean Cramer on Monday submitted a letter to Mayor Dan Damman withdrawing from the race in Marysville.
City Manager Randy Fernandez says Cramer's name will remain on the Nov. 5 city election ballot.
The 67-year-old Cramer created a furor with comments in response to a question about how to attract more people, including those foreign born, to Marysville, a St. Clair County community 55 miles northeast of Detroit.
More than 90% of Marysville's 9,700-person population is white.
"My suggestion, recommendation: Keep Marysville a white community as much as possible," said Cramer, one of five candidates running for three council seats in November.
"White, seriously, in other words, no foreign born, no foreign people because of what -- oh, how can I say -- in our past we have experienced, it's better to have it simply American born. Put it that way," she said. "And no foreigners, no."
After the forum, Cramer told The Times Herald that she's not "against blacks" but believes married couples and their children "need to be the same race."
Mayor Damman called Cramer's comments "jaw-dropping" and "vile," telling WWJ's Sandea McNeill: "It is certainly not representative of the Marysville that I have called home."
MORE: City Council Candidate Says Marysville Should Be Kept As White As Possible