LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It’s not exactly the kind of convention RSVP a political party hopes to receive from one of its highest-ranking elected officials. However, Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel says she will skip the Michigan Democratic Party’s August nominating convention because she doesn’t believe it’s safe for her to attend, citing repeated harassment and growing concerns about antisemitism within her own party.

“I don’t feel safe going,” Nessel said during a roundtable discussion with Jewish community leaders. “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.”

An uncomfortable admission for Democrats.

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Nessel, who is Jewish, said the atmosphere inside the Michigan Democratic Party has changed and criticized party leaders for not doing enough to address the problem. Her comments come as tensions over Israel and antisemitism have become a defining fault line in the state’s closely watched U.S. Senate primary, and amid a broader rise in antisemitic incidents across Michigan that has included protests targeting Jewish institutions, vandalism and threats, and ongoing concerns voiced by Jewish community leaders.

Nessel warns of growing antisemitism within her party.

Comparing the rise of antisemitism on the left to neo-Nazi activity on the right, Nessel said, “I will speak as a member of the Democratic Party here in Michigan, that some things have changed. 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.”

Jessica “Decky” Alexander, the Michigan Jewish Democratic caucus chair, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Friday, “I don’t blame AG Nessel for not wanting to go and basically put herself in situations that feel untenable in this moment of time and don’t add any value politically, personally.”

The Michigan Democratic Party responded to Nessel’s statements by saying it rejects antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of hate, and that it is working to ensure the August 29 convention is safe for everyone.

For a party that frequently brands itself as the champion of inclusion, having its own attorney general decide she’d rather stay home than risk being harassed by fellow Democrats is an awkward headline – and one party leaders will likely wish wasn’t making the rounds as voters cast their ballots.