Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced she will not attend the state Democratic Party’s August convention, saying she expects harassment and antisemitic attacks from within her own party and questioning whether party leaders have taken her safety complaints seriously.
Dana Nessel made the decision public at an Anti-Defamation League roundtable in Lansing, explaining that past incidents and the party’s response left her convinced she would not be safe or welcome at the gathering. She described a pattern of hostile treatment that she believes would continue if she showed up, and she framed the issue specifically as a problem inside the Michigan Democratic Party rather than an abstract national threat.
“I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome. I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage, irrespective of what I’m saying. And I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.”
Nessel’s announcement appeared on social media Thursday afternoon and quickly drew attention from local and national observers. The statement underscores the unusual reality of a sitting attorney general saying she fears members of her own party more than outside extremists when it comes to personal safety at public events.
Her remarks were made in the context of a discussion about antisemitism, and she acknowledged the danger posed by far-right neo-Nazi groups. Still, she emphasized that her immediate concern is the behavior she says she has experienced within Michigan Democratic ranks, and she urged that internal problems be addressed rather than minimized.
https://x.com/liz_nass/status/2082886702117335086?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I can’t speak for the Republican Party because I’m not a member of that party. But I will speak as a member of the Democratic Party here in Michigan, that something’s got to change. This cannot continue.”
The state party issued a statement promising the August convention would be safe and rejecting antisemitism and Islamophobia, but Nessel and others say the response did not explain what actions, if any, had been taken in response to her prior complaints. The party’s assurance stopped short of detailing disciplinary steps or naming the individuals she says were responsible for harassment.
Tensions have been visible in recent months at in-party gatherings. Reports describe an April meeting where pro-Israel Democrats were shouted down and some candidates faced sustained boos while trying to speak, creating an atmosphere that attendees later described as hostile and unnerving. Those events raised alarm among Jewish Democrats and highlighted fractures over Israel and intra-party dissent.
At the same time, the party’s delegate process produced controversy when a candidate with a history of supportive posts about Hezbollah briefly drew support before backlash and scrutiny followed. That episode added to the perception among some members that standards and vetting within the party had been inconsistent when it came to antisemitic or anti-Israel content.
One candidate who lost party backing said his home and workplace had been targeted by anti-Israel vandalism, and he used the experience to argue the scale of antisemitism inside the party is substantial. Complaints from members like him and from elected officials such as Nessel have not, at least publicly, produced a detailed account of corrective measures from state leadership.
The convention at the Lansing Center on August 29 will nominate candidates for several statewide offices, including the party’s choice to run for attorney general. Nessel’s absence will be conspicuous because it not only leaves an incumbent off the stage but also raises uncomfortable questions about the party’s ability to protect and fairly treat its own officials.
With roughly a month until delegates gather, party leaders face pressure to explain how they will ensure safety, address discrimination claims, and respond to accusations that internal complaints were overlooked. Nessel has framed her choice to stay away as a safety decision rooted in experience, and her departure from the event schedule forces a reckoning over how the party polices conduct at its own meetings.
Add comment