DETROIT (AP) - Longtime Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said Tuesday that he is fighting cancer and will not seek re-election next year to an eighth term in office.
The 80-year-old Patterson told reporters that he has pancreatic cancer and that it is in the fourth stage. He said he received the official diagnosis on March 15 and that he will continue his duties this year.
“I’m fighting this cancer to be among the 10 percent who survive it,” he said during a news conference in Waterford Township. “I will continue to do my job as Oakland County executive alongside the members of my administration who comprise the best team anywhere in government.”
Patterson has faced adversity related to his health before. In 2012, he was seriously injured in a car crash.
He has been Oakland County’s chief since 1993 and served as its prosecutor from 1973 to 1988. In 1972, he served as attorney for a group that opposed a federal judge’s order for school busing integration.
In the event of a vacancy, Chief Deputy Gerald Poisson will take over as county executive until a successor is appointed by county commissioners or a special election is held, according to Patterson’s office, which is in Pontiac.
Oakland County, north and northwest of Detroit, is considered one of the most affluent counties in the U.S. It is Michigan’s second-largest county and was a destination for many Detroit residents who left the city for the suburbs starting in the 1950s.
As the county’s leader, Patterson has opposed a tax levy to fund a regional transit system and fought regionalization of Detroit’s water system.
The Republican has a history of verbally sparring with other regional leaders, especially those in Detroit. He apologized last year after saying he’d rather join the Ku Klux Klan than a group of CEOs he had accused of snatching business from Oakland County to benefit Detroit.
“He has made serving Oakland County his life’s work, and his leadership has impacted nearly every element of our region,” the county’s treasurer, Andy Meisner, said of Patterson on Tuesday. “I stand ready to help him steward the county in the coming months and wish him peace and comfort.”
Meisner, a Democrat, announced earlier this month that he plans to run for county executive.
Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox said Patterson has been devoted to serving Oakland County and Michigan residents.
“For over 40 years, Brooks has given the people of Michigan the straight talk they deserve, and he has proven that he is a fighter,” Cox said. “If there is one person who can beat this, it is L. Brooks Patterson.”
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