A pair of candidates for top statewide office will speak to Livingston County Democrats later this month.

Ann Arbor businessman Shri Thanedar, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and Dana Nessel, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for attorney general, will both speak at the party’s Nov. 30 meeting. Thanedar is a political newcomer and business entrepreneur who emigrated from India in 1979, gaining citizenship in 1988. He also is a best-selling author, having written his memoirs, The Blue Suitcase.

Nessel is an attorney who spearheaded the precedent-setting case, DeBoer v. Snyder, which challenged the bans on adoption and marriage for same-sex couples in Michigan. The DeBoer case later resulted in a landmark ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. A former assistant prosecutor in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Nessel has received numerous awards for her civil rights initiatives, including the “Champion of Justice” award from the Michigan State Bar Association, “Woman of the Year” from Michigan Lawyers Weekly and the “Treasure of Detroit” award from Wayne State University Law School.

The Nov. 30 meeting will be at 7 p.m. at RE/Max Platinum Auditorium on Grand River in Genoa Township. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 810-229-4212 or email livcodems@gmail.com. (JK)