Justin Onwenu plans to take his energy from the streets to City Hall and now the Michigan Legislature, launching his campaign for the 1st state Senate District in 2026. 

It’s been a little over a year since the 29-year-old attorney and organizer was appointed to be the city’s first director of entrepreneurship and economic opportunity. The position focuses on connecting entrepreneurs to funding and addressing city policies that slow down business development. Onwenu discussed his focus on improving the lives of constituents, bridging Detroit and downriver communities, his approach to politics and the urgency for young voices to take the lead during a conversation with BridgeDetroit.

Onwenu hasn’t run for office before, but he’s no stranger to government service. He was a Michigan delegate for Bernie Sanders in 2020 and joined the Biden administration in 2021 as an intern for the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Onwenu’s father, a first-generation immigrant from Nigeria who came to Detroit in his early 20s, was a teacher in Detroit Public Schools. His grandfather worked in the administrations of past Detroit mayors Coleman A. Young and Dennis Archer.

“Politics is not about identity and about social media and about self-expression,” Onwenu said. “Politics is about getting things done for the folks who elected you. Younger candidates can get themselves in trouble because they want elections and politics to be about the excitement of self-expression, but I am laser-focused on making sure Michigan has higher wage jobs, is lowering costs, investing in neighborhoods and making our government more ethical.” 

If elected, Onwenu could be the only Black man in the state senate. Former state Sen. Marshall Bullock, who endorsed Onwenu, held that distinction before losing to a white Democrat when Michigan’s redistricting process put the two into the same district.

Onwenu is the first Democrat to announce his candidacy for Michigan’s 1st District. He had the immediate endorsement of elected leaders in Ecorse, Lincoln Park and River Rouge, several state lawmakers, the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus, 13th District Democratic Party and others. 

The district extends southwest from Detroit into Ecorse, Lincoln Park and Taylor. The seat is currently held by Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Troy, who can’t seek reelection in 2026 due to term limits. Owenu said it’s among the lowest voting districts in Michigan. 

“These seats were redrawn in order to give Black community more representation, in many ways,” Onwenu said. “We’ve got zero Black men in the State Senate. We’ve got very few young people. We’ve got the lowest voter turnout. I think some of those things are connected.” 

Onwenu is a Columbia Law School graduate and has been an advocate for improving air quality and protecting drinking water with the Sierra Club, organized for workers’ rights with One Fair Wage and was a legal researcher for the Service Employees International Union and the United Auto Workers. He served as the youngest member of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Black Leadership Council and was a senior advisor on the campaign to reform term limits and government ethics. 

In his campaign launch video, Onwenu poses the question: “Is Michigan politics worse than D.C.?” He entered the race as the Legislature teetered toward a state government shutdown and the federal government started its first shutdown in seven years. 

“These aren’t normal times,” Onwenu said. “A lot of folks want to see the same basic stuff and want better jobs, they want the jobs that we have to stay here, they want investments in the neighborhoods, and they want the government to be a lot more ethical and transparent, whether it be FOIA or lobbying reform.” 

“I’ve done a lot at the local level, but now seeing what’s happening at the state — between lame duck last year, where nothing got done, to now Republicans wanting to follow Trump’s lead in cutting education, health care and all so many other line items in our government — it’s been a sort of slow-moving realization that I think it’s time for new leaders to step up to the plate.” 

Editor’s note: This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

BridgeDetroit: People with an organizing background probably have to consider whether it’s better to work inside or outside of the system. What was your thinking on taking that step of running for office? 

Justin Onwenu: I’m an attorney. I think about rules, systems, institutions, best practices, but I’m also an organizer. I think about not just the words that are written in law, but the people who are impacted.

When I started my current job as director of entrepreneurship, someone in the community and the tech ecosystem told me ‘you really should think of your job as that of an organizer, which means you listen to people, try to figure out what the problems are, and then show up with solutions and try to build the coalition and get those solutions done.’

There are differences in tone and affect between being sort of a community organizer, it’s a different vibe, but I think my heart and community, from my work as an organizer to my work as director of entrepreneurship, has remained. 

Before I went to law school and was organizing, people would say, ‘you should think about running for office,’ and it really wasn’t something that was on my heart because I thought there were other ways that I can serve. I am uniquely positioned to be a coalition builder, between the small business community and the labor community, between the immigrant community in Southwest.

BD: There’s been a widespread cultural frustration about the advanced age of our elected leaders. What do you bring to the table as a Gen Z candidate? 

Onwenu: Gen Z has been frustrated. I was born in 1996. We went through 911, the housing crash and financial crash, the election with Donald Trump, which changed our politics in a lot of ways, and COVID-19. From the cost of housing to seeing our government leaders be openly chaotic and corrupt, dealing with student debt, all those things. 

Previous generations saw their government move in big ways, whether it be FDR, LBJ, other government leaders. I just think that younger voters haven’t been energized in many ways because we haven’t seen ourselves represented.

At the same time, I think Detroit especially needs young leadership that can bridge that gap between the older generations that actually made so much progress for us and the younger generations that have the energy and the will to continue that legacy. 

BD: Detroit is a bit younger on average than the rest of the state, though compared to peer cities, our population is a bit older. How do we make this a viable place for young people to start careers and families? What do you think about the conversation around making Detroit cool? 

Onwenu: Investing in our neighborhoods is one of the three big points that I’m focused on. That of course means affordable housing, that of course means beautification and small businesses and neighborhoods, but I think it needs to mean mass transit.

It needs to mean amenities that keep young people, and it also means making sure that our schools are successful, whether it be on the skilled trade side or school infrastructure and school funding. Before you have kids, you may be thinking about transit and housing costs and amenities in the neighborhood, and then when you have kids, your first thought is the schools.

Attracting young people needs to be done, not just with gimmicks or with tax rates, but we need to be making investments in housing and transit and walkability. 

Southwest Detroit. Corktown. Downtown. Midtown. New Center, Dexter-Linwood and Boston-Edison. There’s a lot of just great neighborhoods that are attracting a lot of folks, and people have stayed for a long time.

BD: What has Detroit gotten out of its relationship to Lansing, especially more recently under Democratic majorities? 

Onwenu: I am concerned about how much Detroit and Downriver have gotten the resources and funding we deserve. Lame duck showed me Democrats deeply need someone who can build coalitions. 

There’s two big questions that we’ll be facing at the local level and state level. We have funding cuts that are being pushed at the state and federal level. We have our rights that are being under attack from the Trump administration in many ways. 

The first question is, can you defend and have you stood up for our communities?

As for the second question. Folks who are elected in 2026 will be there after the Trump administration, after 2028. We have to have people who actually have a vision for democratic politics that isn’t just focused on Trump. 

Democrats shouldn’t want to not say anything or be silent when we are seeing a lot of chaos. We are seeing a lot of troubling things coming out of this administration, from an ethics standpoint.

I also think we need to be laser-focused on economic issues, on neighborhood issues, on improving people’s lives on a day-to-day basis, and I don’t think we should be defending government when people see government that’s inefficient, that oftentimes is ethically challenged and has transparency issues. 

The chaos that we’ve seen out of Lansing makes it difficult for Democrats to get elected, because Republicans typically are the party of a small government that doesn’t do anything. I want a Democratic Party that defends our communities and that actually gets things done.

BD: I can’t help but notice that the ‘Lansing is dysfunctional pitch’ sounds similar to what Mike Duggan is saying right now as he runs for governor in 2026, is that a coincidence? 

Onwenu: When you talk to people in neighborhoods and talk to residents, that’s all people can talk about. It’s about what is going on with this Trump administration cutting Medicaid, cutting education, cutting so many things that are necessary.

I’ve been excited by the work we’ve been able to do at the local level. We worked with Council President Mary Sheffield on the Detroit Legacy Business Program, the Detroit Startup Fund, this new Detroit Capital Hub. Motor City Match is directly tied to Mayor Duggan’s legacy. I think some of that work needs to happen at the state level.  

We’ve got local laws that are preemptive, whether it be tied to property taxes or minimum wage, so I would love to see communities have a greater say. 

It’s time for new leadership, and I think that’s something we’re seeing across the board. We’ve got democracy that’s been under attack for over a decade in many ways. If we as Democrats are going to be the party of democracy, I think Republicans have used small government and local government to prevent folks from having rights that everyone should have.

We’ve got to be the party of local government that says, if you want to go above and beyond your state standard, the federal standard, whether it be on minimum wage or other matters, you know your community best, let’s give local governments more control. 

For Detroit, the city that’s gone through emergency management and other actions that undermine democratic process, we’re uniquely positioned to push for greater local control. I think there’s actually a lot of coalitions that can be built with Democrats, with Republicans.  

BD: What do you make of the arena tax proposal? 

Onwenu: One of the things that’s been frustrating about some of these local preemption discussions is that we get into specifics about the policy that is being preempted, instead of talking about the principle that local governments and residents locally should have a greater say.

I’m a big proponent of ballot initiatives. I was on the government transparency and term limits ballot initiative that enshrined probably the most significant ethics and transparency rules that we’ve seen in recent state history. 

It’s not a question about my individual beliefs on different policy issues. It’s a belief that no matter the issue, I’d like to see Detroiters have a greater say. 

BD: Detroit is preparing to tighten its belt next year. How will you deliver resources to the city when there may be more competition from other communities across the state, and Detroit is feeling the loss of pandemic-era federal funding? 

Onwenu: We haven’t seen someone at the legislative level build the coalitions in the way that I think are necessary to say, ‘this is the priority list. It’s been checked by all of these different stakeholders. We’re singing from one sound, one band.’

It’s a lot easier to go to and work with your colleagues in the Legislature who aren’t from Detroit when you’re able to say Detroit speaking with one sound. Lame duck showed us last year that there are a lot of competing priorities. Who has the Detroit agenda?

Being able to work directly with the next mayor, next members of council, philanthropic community, the business community, the labor community – with the work that I’ve been doing now I will be uniquely positioned, especially in a time when there’s economic turmoil and questions about budgets, to speak with more authority with how we can meet all of our needs.