A City Council candidate in Michigan who drew criticism and national attention last week for saying her community should be kept white “as much as possible” officially withdrew from the race on Monday.

The candidate, Jean Cramer, who was running for a seat on the Marysville City Council, hand-delivered a one-sentence letter to City Hall in the afternoon. It read: “I am writing this letter to withdraw as a City Council candidate for the Marysville City Council election on Nov. 5, 2019.”

At a candidates’ forum on Thursday, the moderator asked whether the community should be more aggressive in attracting foreign-born residents. Ms. Cramer replied that Marysville should be a “white community as much as possible” with “no foreign people,” drawing audible gasps from fellow candidates.

On Friday, Ms. Cramer expanded on her views to The Times Herald, a local newspaper. She said that interracial marriages were a “big problem,” citing the Bible, and insisted she was not racist. She told reporters that she had no plans to drop out of the race.