She unseated a long-serving politician once -- to become mayor of Southfield -- and now Brenda Lawrence will try it again with her eyes on a higher office.
Lawrence plans to announce Friday that she'll challenge Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson for the county's top job.
Her supporters and at least one fellow Southfield politician have acknowledged that unseating Patterson, who has served as county executive for the past 16 years and has high name recognition throughout the county, won't be easy.
But Lawrence -- who became Southfield's first black and first female mayor after defeating longtime Mayor Donald Fracassi in 2001 -- said she thinks her plans for the region will win voters. Lawrence said her platform will include regional mass transit and improved economic opportunities for all residents -- from the wealthiest to the working class. "The leadership has to embrace all parts of this county," Lawrence said Wednesday.
Does she have a chance? Someone from the Detroit area, weigh in and tell me. No clue over here how people feel about Brooks nowadays.