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State Rep. Donavan McKinney challenges US Rep. Shri Thanedar for seat [1]
['Todd Spangler']
Date: 2025-04-28
State Rep. Donavan McKinney challenges US Rep. Shri Thanedar for seat
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McKinney, who emphasizes his working-class background, joins former state Senator Adam Hollier in the race against Thanedar.
The Democratic primary winner is highly likely to win the general election due to the district's demographics.
State Rep. Donavan McKinney, of Detroit, on April 28 added his name as another Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in next year's primary as the congressman seeks a third two-year term.
McKinney, who was first elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2022 and again last year, joins former state Sen. Adam Hollier, of Detroit, in challenging Thanedar, who also lives in Detroit and served in the state House prior to his election to Congress.
In a two-minute video and a statement provided along with his campaign launch, McKinney, 32, described himself as a lifelong Detroiter who is "fighting to deliver working class representation" to Michigan's 13th Congressional District, which stretches from Detroit's east side southward across much of the city into Downriver.
“I’m not running for Congress because I’m a millionaire or a billionaire," McKinney said, contrasting himself with Thanedar, an Indian immigrant and scientist who has made millions in business ventures and comparing his opponent's wealth with that of President Donald Trump and Trump adviser Elon Musk. "I’m running because I’m not."
"I’m running because our community deserves to have someone fighting back against the Trump-Musk administration who knows our struggles of housing insecurity, of wages that haven’t kept up with the cost of living, of environmental racism, and more — someone who has lived those struggles, and will fight for us with the urgency that this moment demands,” he said.
Thanedar won in the newly drawn 13th District in 2022 by splitting a crowded Democratic field that included Hollier, who is running for the third time against the incumbent. Because of the district's makeup, whoever wins the Democratic primary is considered the likely winner in the general election the following November.
The incumbent has been criticized almost since taking office, accused of flip-flopping positions on Israel and failing to meet the concerns of his constituents, though he has denied that, arguing he has brought millions in government funding back to the district, one of the poorest in the nation. He has also been criticized by Hollier for putting up billboards of himself around the district, using taxpayer funding to do so; Thanedar has said they are intended to get constituents to call his office with their needs.
McKinney represents a district that includes northeast Detroit and part of Macomb County. In the video, he emphasized his upbringing in Detroit, noting he was raised by his mother and grandmother, had to move more than a dozen times and faced impoverished conditions. He said he wants to reverse the impact of environmental racism and pollution, improve education, strengthen union rights and provide southeast Michigan with better public transit.
In the state House, he said he helped secure $10 million for community violence intervention programs, funded community recreation centers and schools and helped get $600 million to replace lead pipes. He was a member of Michigan’s first Advisory Council for Environmental Justice before being elected. In announcing his campaign for Congress, McKinney also rolled out more than a dozen Democratic endorsements, including those from state Sen. Paul Wojno, of Warren, and state Rep. Stephanie Young, of Detroit.
Contact Todd Spangler:
[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
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[1] Url:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2025/04/28/michigan-donavan-mckinney-shri-thanedar/83325109007/
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