A teacher turned prosecutor, Karen McDonald has launched her campaign for Michigan attorney general. A mother of five, McDonald worked as an English teacher in Midland before pursuing a law degree at Wayne State University Law School.
In her first year as Oakland County prosecutor — after being elected in 2020 — she led the prosecution in the 2021 Oxford High School shooting case that killed four and injured seven. She previously served as assistant prosecuting attorney in Oakland County, was later elected to the Oakland County Circuit Court and then elected as Oakland County prosecutor in both 2020 and 2024. According to her website, through her teaching career, “she found her calling: advocating for kids, helping families and believing in second chances.”
Both of her roles prior to becoming prosecutor involved children, whether handling child sexual assault cases as assistant prosecuting attorney or overseeing custody, divorce, child abuse and various other juvenile cases when serving on the Circuit Court.
McDonald said that as attorney general — the position currently held by Dana Nessel, who cannot run again due to term limits — she vows to continue her work of fighting for families and children, protecting freedoms, improving and maintaining safety and upholding the law.
In her role as prosecutor, she reviewed every pending juvenile life sentence case in the county, according to Oakland County’s webpage. She has also established a Hate Crimes Unit, a Conviction Integrity Unit, a Trafficking Unit and created the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Racial Justice Advisory Council — the first-ever — and internal Equity Team.
The Oxford High School shooting case, which McDonald led as prosecutor, was the first mass shooting in U.S. history where the parents of the shooter were also convicted. Ethan Crumbley, the shooter, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. Both later filed motions for a retrial, which were dismissed by an Oakland County judge.
“I’m running for attorney general because I’m someone who has always been drawn to doing the most good,” McDonald said in a press release. “Right now, our state is facing major threats on everything from public safety to the rule of law. From gun violence and human trafficking, to threats to our fundamental freedoms and federal overreach — the stakes have never been higher. Michigan needs an attorney general ready to take on these tough fights, protect our freedoms, uphold the law and keep our communities safe. It’s what I’ve done my whole life, as a prosecutor, as a judge and a teacher and a mom, and it’s what I’ll do as attorney general.”
McDonald grew up in the town of Portland (about 26 miles northwest of Lansing) in a working-class family with her two sisters — one of whom, Kristen McDonald Rivet, was elected to Michigan’s Eighth Congressional District in 2024. She now resides in Birmingham with her husband and is the third person vying to be on the Democratic Party ticket for attorney general, alongside former federal Prosecutor Mark Totten and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit.
The Democrats and Republicans will select their final nominees for attorney general during their respective party conventions in the summer of 2026, ahead of the mid-term general election on November 3, 2026.
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