Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is set to skip the Michigan Democratic Party’s nominating convention on Saturday. Nessel, a Democrat who has served as attorney general since 2019 and is term-limited from seeking re-election, made the statement during an antisemitism roundtable hosted by her office and involving Jewish community members, the Anti-Defamation League, and others
Nessel, who is Jewish, stated that she would not feel safe if she were to attend the event. “I don’t feel safe going. 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,” she stated. “And I believe that if I go, that is what will happen because it’s been happening to me.”
She then referenced prior incidents, including at the party’s April endorsement convention, and said she had filed a formal complaint with party leadership about an unnamed member of the state central and rules committees who called her and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens “neo-Nazis.” Nessel asked why that individual would be accepted at the convention when she did not feel comfortable attending.
“Why is this person more accepted in our party than me?” she said.
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Michigan’s Jewish attorney general says she won’t attend her own party’s convention this weekend because she fears being harassed by pro-Palestinian activists — and she’s not the only Democrat staying away.
Dana Nessel said she doesn’t feel safe going after pro-Israel speakers… pic.twitter.com/PMsH3cMvzu
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 29, 2026
Nessel then made the sweeping claim that antisemitism associated was mainly with “far-right groups” in the past but is now appearing on the political left and within the Democratic Party. She said threats received during her tenure as attorney general have been “almost exclusively antisemitic” and that two or three people are typically incarcerated, jailed, on probation, or under supervision at any time for threats against her or her family.
“I will speak as a member of the Democratic Party here in Michigan that something’s got to change,” she said. “This cannot continue, and the fact of the matter is, we have to be able to be a society where we can have intelligent discourse and debate about ideas without people being threatened, and certainly without people carrying out those threats.”
Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman responded by stating that the party is committed to “ensuring party-hosted events are safe and secure environments for all attendees.” He added, “We reject antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hateful conduct. We are working diligently with stakeholders, elected officials, and party membership to prepare for our August convention and look forward to welcoming Michigan Democrats to the Lansing Center on August 29.”
The announcement occurred amid tensions following a divisive U.S. Senate Democratic primary between Stevens, whom Nessel endorsed, and Abdul El-Sayed, who won the nomination. Issues related to Israel and antisemitism featured in the contest and at earlier party events.
In a separate interview with The Atlantic earlier this month, Nessel suggested that she could leave the Democratic Party if these issues persist. “I was Jewish before I was ever Michigan Attorney General. I’m going to be Jewish afterwards. I was Jewish before I was ever a member of the Democratic Party. And if I have to, I’ll be Jewish afterwards, too,” she said.
