Mary Patterson drops out of race for Oakland County exec

Republican Mary Patterson has dropped out of the race for Oakland County executive, citing a lack of financial support.

Patterson, the daughter of the late former Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, quietly announced her departure from the race against incumbent Dave Coulter on social media.

"After careful consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to withdraw from the race for Oakland County Executive," Patterson said in a Facebook post on Feb. 9. "While I am forever grateful for the outpouring of grassroots support, the financial backing that is necessary to win this race simply isn’t there."

Patterson is the daughter of the late L. Brooks Patterson and filed to run for county executive last summer. Her father held the job for almost three decades until his death in August 2019. He was often credited with the county's economic success and led decades of Republican dominance there.

Vance Patrick, chairman of the Oakland County Republican Party, hinted at an "extremely strong" slate of candidates to be announced next week.

“While we were disappointed that Mary decided to withdraw her name, we’re extremely excited to have a strong slate of countywide candidates that will be formally announced next week.”

The deadline for Democratic and Republican Party candidates for county executive to file partisan nominating petitions is 4 p.m. on April 23, according to the Oakland County Clerk's Office.

Mary Patterson didn't respond to a request for comment.

While Oakland County was a solid Republican county for decade, it has trended blue in recent elections. Coulter was the first Democrat to be elected as executive in the county in 2020 after he was first appointed to the position by the Democratic-controlled County Board of Commissioners in 2019.

Shortly after announcing her candidacy, Mary Patterson, a former elementary school teacher and mother of four, said she wanted to focus on education, fiscal responsibility with the county budget and allowing individual municipalities to opt out of certain taxes when she first announced her campaign last summer.

"I want to go back to the days of what people used to know Oakland County as — good schools place where you want to live, work, raise a family," Patterson told The Detroit News in August.

Patterson had raised over $77,000 in the current election cycle as of January, according to campaign finance documents. By the same point, Coulter's campaign had received more than $500,000 in contributions, according to campaign finance documents.

In her Facebook post, Patterson said she announced her decision as early as possible so other potential candidates could consider running.

hmackay@detroitnews.com