Michigan Democrats stress party unity in convention marked by Israel protest

• Michigan Democrats stressed unity while finalizing general election ballot at state party convention
• Those calls were somewhat undercut, however, by a small pro-Palestinian protest that broke out earlier in the event
• Delegates at the convention only voted on candidates for University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, all other races being uncontested

LANSING — Michigan Democrats voted to finalize their general election ticket Saturday, stressing party unity and support for Vice President Kamala Harris heading into November to delegates at their annual state party convention.

But the messages of unity were at least partially undercut by protesters who interrupted the National Anthem to shout at a University of Michigan regent about the ongoing war in Gaza.

Speakers at the convention in Lansing noted Michigan’s expected role as a top prize in the November election, with both Harris and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump focusing on the state. 

“As Michigan goes, so goes America,” said Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrest, one of the handful of state and local leaders to address delegates.

Michigan has some history in picking presidents. Since 1980, Michigan voters have backed the eventual winning presidential candidate in every election, bar the 2000 and 2004 contests.

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Saturday’s state convention almost immediately followed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which ended Thursday. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who delivered a prime-time speech at the DNC Thursday evening, spoke in state party caucus meetings earlier Saturday but did not address the full convention later in the day. 

But other high-ranking officials, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Holly, roused the crowd, pushing hard on the concept of the party unifying behind candidates to beat Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in November.

"That is what matters,” said Slotkin, who’s running for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat against Republican Mike Rogers this fall. “That is what we can do when we’re the party of the big tent.”

Protesters disrupted the convention early on, shouting at U-M Regent Jordan Acker during the National Anthem and questioning whether the university would divest from Israel, among other things.

Similar protests have followed Democrats throughout this year’s campaign season, reemerging with emphasis after somewhat subsiding when President Joe Biden removed himself from the ballot in July. 

Acker later told Bridge Michigan the protesters had approached him to question whether he thought reports of Israeli Defense Forces soldiers allegedly committing sexual assault against Palestinian prisoners was “appropriate.” 

He said he told the protesters “no” before countering to ask them whether they condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel and related sexual assault allegations.

“The protester did not answer, and I said, ‘If you cannot say no, I am done talking to you,” Acker told Bridge in a text. “And that’s when the shouting started.”

The Israel-Hamas war is an issue Democrats have struggled with this campaign cycle as Biden continues to stand by Israel despite mounting concern about Palestinian citizens killed or harmed in the conflict. 

Earlier this month in Romulus, a Harris speech was interrupted by an anti-war demonstration. Earlier this week, some protesters were reportedly arrested outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

In February, Michigan saw that movement culminate with a push for residents to vote ‘uncommitted’ in the state’s primary as a message to Biden. 

That effort garnered about 100,000 votes, or about 13% of the overall number of ballots cast, and was mostly seen as an unsuccessful attempt to signal a push for policy change out of Michigan.

The incident with Acker on Saturday did not seem part of a larger demonstration effort at the convention, however, and party officials moved on with the program as planned. 

Michigan “will show the country again how to get things done,” outgoing U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow said later in the afternoon. Democrats have “terrific” candidates, she added, “and we need to be leaning in and supporting all of them.”

The only contested race Democrats had at their Saturday convention was for two seats on the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents.

Taking home those nominations were Shauna Ryder Diggs, a dermatologist and former at-large member of the board from 2013 to 2021, and incumbent Regent Denise Ilitch.

Illitch is the former president of Ilitch Holdings, Inc., a privately held business that manages Little Caesar Enterprises, the Detroit Red Wings, the Detroit Tigers and Olympia Entertainment.

In every other race, candidates won by virtue of being the only individuals running. That includes:

• For seats on the Michigan Supreme Court: Incumbent Justice Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Thomas, a trial and appellate lawyer as well as law professor at the University of Michigan Law School
• For seats on the State Board of Education: Former state Rep. Adam Zemke and Theodore Jones, senior director of talent initiatives for the nonprofit economic growth organization Global Detroit
• For seats on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees: Former state Rep. Thomas Stallworth and Rebecca Bahar-Cook, a small-business owner
• For seats on the Wayne State University Board of Governors: Pharmacist Rasha Demashkieh and incumbent Mark Gaffney, who has served on the board since 2016