Candidate who wants to keep town ‘a white community’ withdraws from city council race

A Michigan city council candidate who drew widespread condemnation for saying she wanted to keep the town a “white community” announced she is withdrawing from the race.

While Jean Cramer’s name will still appear on the November election ballot, on Monday she formally withdrew her name from the race in a one-sentence letter written at the request of city officials, according to the Port Huron Times Herald.

{mosads}Cramer’s candidacy for Marysville City Council drew national attention following her comments, which came during a candidate forum last week where she was asked, “Do you believe the diversity of our community needs to be looked at, and if so, should we be more aggressive in attracting foreign-born citizens?”

Cramer responded by vowing to work to keep the town “a white community as much as possible” if she’s elected.

When reached by the local news outlet and given the opportunity to clarify her remarks, Cramer doubled down.

“Husband and wife need to be the same race. Same thing with kids,” Cramer said. “That’s how it’s been from the beginning of, how can I say, when God created the heaven and the earth.”

She added that she did not believe her comments were racist.

Cramer’s one-line letter to the city Monday did not include any reason for her dropping out of the city council race.

Marysville Mayor Dan Damman condemned her comments and asked her to drop out of the race.

“After the initial shock of what she said really sank in and (given) the deep-seated viewpoints that she has, I don’t believe that she is fit to serve as an elected official in Marysville or anywhere else,” he said.