How Judaism inspires the first openly gay politician in Michigan state office
Dana Nessel has spent much of her career challenging the state and federal government to advance progressive causes. In 2015, the Jewish attorney successfully argued in a case to overturn Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage.
The lawsuit, in which Nessel represented a lesbian couple looking to jointly adopt their foster children, was later combined with others in that year’s landmark Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage.
But after the 2016 presidential election, Nessel, 49, decided she wanted to go about things in a different way. As she saw “egregious policies” at the federal and state level, she decided to run for office.
“It was never my plan, but after the Trump election, quite honestly, I changed my mind,” she said.
But where to run?
“I thought the best use of [public] office for me since I had spent years suing the Michigan attorney general was actually becoming Michigan attorney general,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a phone interview last week.
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