Running through last weekend's state Democratic Nominating Convention was an undercurrent of antisemitism that left many Jews wondering if they still have a place in the party and left Democrats with a candidate slate that will make it more challenging to exploit their opportunities in this year's midterm election.

"It's extensive," said University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker, when asked about the level of antisemitism in the state party. "The question we have to ask as Jews is whether we still belong here?"

Acker's failed bid to win support for renomination to the UM board was at the center of the struggle within Huntington Place in downtown Detroit Sunday. He was successfully challenged by Amir Makled, a Dearborn attorney who defended pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during the demonstrations on the Ann Arbor campus against the Gaza war.

Acker, finishing his first term as a regent, urged the break-up of the protests and the prosecution of those who harassed Jewish students. For that he had his home and office vandalized.

"The antisemitism on our campus was taken out on Jordan," said Regent Paul Brown, who won his bid for renomination Sunday for the second board seat.

In the Jewish community, what's happening in the Democratic Party, as reflected by Acker's loss, is viewed as a political pogrom to purge anyone who fails the progressive purity test on Israel. The headline on a Jewishinsider.com post read, "Michigan Dems nominate lawyer who praised Hezbollah for UMich regent over Jewish incumbent."

Antisemitism was what brought Pamela Lippitt of Southfield to the convention. The first-time delegate said before the regent vote, in which Acker finished a distant third, "If Jordan loses, it is totally about antisemitism. This party is so fractured. I never thought I'd see that in this country."

It was a nasty fight. Bombshells were dropped on both candidates as the convention began. An old chatroom conversation between Acker and his friends surfaced which has him making lewd comments about a female Democratic strategist. Makled had to defend revelations of domestic violence involving his wife and nephew.

Leading up to the convention former state Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon penned an op-ed in The Detroit News declaring Mackled "doesn't belong in the Democratic Party."

He cited deleted posts from the candidate's social media accounts in which he referred to Israeli Jews as “demons" who “lie, cheat, murder and blackmail.” Makled also shared an antisemitic meme using a slur originally coined by ISIS, and he amplified content calling for Jews to be banned from serving in Congress, Dillon wrote.

The divide over the Israeli Palestinian conflict spilled into other contests, particularly the U.S. Senate race featuring 11th District Congresswoman Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak and former Wayne County Health Director Abdul El-Sayed.

McMorrow drew fire from Jews for telling delegates she has "never taken money from AIPAC, and never will." AIPAC is a leading pro-Israel lobbying group. The senate hopeful added she supports far-left Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' resolution to ban U.S. weapons sales to Israel, a measure that would put the Jewish state's existence at risk.

Stevens, who is heavily backed by AIPAC, was disrupted during her address to the Jewish Voters Caucus by a heckler challenging her position on the war in Gaza. She said the recent attack on Temple Israel in her district should be a reminder of the danger of tolerating expressions of antisemitism.

Meanwhile, El-Sayed, who has appeared at rallies with anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker, echoed the sentiments of other Arab Americans at the convention in countering that charges of antisemitism are being used to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel. "You can't equate antisemitism to the opposition of the actions of a government," he said.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hamoud saw the UM regents race as a reflection of the divide over U.S. policies in the Middle East.

"You had the horrific experience of the University of Michigan crushing Palestinian protests, and that has a lot of people looking at that race who might not otherwise."

That interest helped turn out progressive delegates, who typically have an outsized influence at Democratic conventions, and swayed endorsements in other contests, including for attorney general, where soft-on-crime Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit prevailed over Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, the choice of traditional Democrats.

Should the list of far-left nominees hold, Democrats will be mimicking the mistake Republicans made in 2022, when they presented voters with a slate of right-wing candidates well outside the political mainstream.

Attorney Mark Bernstein, a UM regent and major Democratic donor, said endorsing candidates who embrace dangerous antisemitic rhetoric is “political malpractice because voters will almost certainly reject these candidates in November.”

Bernstein sat out the convention because he has endorsed independent Mike Duggan for governor. Duggan, Bernstein said, “will certainly benefit from a Democratic ticket that is completely out of touch with the vast majority of Michigan voters. That may be the only silver lining.”

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