State Rep. Donavan McKinney on Wednesday vowed to put working people first hours after winning a tight Congressional race in Michigan’s 13th District.
The Democratic nominee held a news conference at Mayflower Church on Curtis Avenue in Detroit to celebrate the win, which his campaign touts as a move toward a future Democratic Party that does not sacrifice the needs of working people for the profits of billionaires.
“It is time that we stop putting politics ahead of what the people need,” McKinney told a crowd of supporters and family members. “This is about the many versus the money. This is about people versus the profits.”
McKinney’s victory knocked out two-term US Rep. Shri Thanedar by 4,200 votes out of 112,000 cast, a roughly 4 percentage-point margin, according to unofficial results from Wayne County.
James Curenton Sr., pastor at Mayflower Church, knows McKinney personally. Curenton said it’s easy to support him because “Donavan is one of us.”
“Donavan is accessible to us and Donavan will be accessible to us once he gets into Congress,” Curenton said. “We have someone that we know that will be there to represent our interests.”
The state lawmaker from Detroit was backed by US Sen. Bernie Sanders and ran on a platform of greater environmental protections through a Green New Deal, getting corporate spending out of politics and ending military aid and arms to Israel, among other things.
Thanedar’s tenure marked the first time the Detroit district was without Black representation in nearly 70 years. McKinney said Wednesday that he’s proud to restore Black representation for the district, but he says he’s not just working to represent Black people or Detroiters.
“This is about restoring the right leadership, because at the end of the day, people are looking for actual folks that are going to do the job, who aren’t just going to give us the platitudes,” he said.
The race was another notable win for progressive Democrats in the Michigan primary.
Community organizer Will Lawrence defeated two establishment-backed candidates in mid-Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, and Abdul El-Sayed prevailed in a close battle with US Rep. Hayley Stevens for US Senate.
After voting this weekat East English Village Preparatory Academy, McKinney told BridgeDetroit that people are suffering and he’s listening to their concerns.
“All I hear from folks is I’m struggling to make ends meet day in and day out,” he said.
Republican candidate T.P. Nykoriak will be the lone Republican candidate on the ballot after he successfully challenged the signatures of his two opponents – Martell Bivings and Raphiel King. The general election is Nov. 3.
Reached Wednesday, Thanedar’s campaign directed BridgeDetroit to a statement that the congressman posted on the social media platform X, congratulating McKinney “on a hard fought race.”
“It was a tough election cycle and, in the end, the voters of the 13th District chose him to represent them moving forward,” said Thanedar, adding that his office helped resolve 4,300 constituent cases and secured $45 million in funding for projects districtwide. “I look forward to serving out the remainder of my term and wish Representative McKinney the best.”
One of the first issues McKinney hopes to address is to “immediately” overturn the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025.
The bill, he said, “has got to go,” because it has caused “harm and confusion.”
“I have seniors on fixed income. All they get from Social Security is $900 a month, and their rents have skyrocketed,” he said.
To do this, McKinney said he will need to work alongside Democrats in Congress, even those who may not agree with the Democratic Socialist ideals that propelled McKinney to victory, such as House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries.
“People are tired of our Democratic Party getting in power and not doing crap with it,” he said. “The reason why Republicans are so damn successful is because they wield their power. Once we’re in office, let’s build it for the working people.”
Thanedar has an estimated net worth of $40 million. He has poured millions of his own money into his political campaigns over the years and had more financial resources than his challengers. In June, his campaign had $5 million in cash on hand – more than any other candidate in the race. Campaign finance records noted that of the $154,673.60 Thanedar had raised from individual donors, 60% was from large donations of $2,000 or higher. McKinney reported raising $1 million during the same period.
McKinney represents the 11th state district in Lansing, which is one of the poorest in Michigan. His top priorities in the US House are universal child care, Medicare for All, and getting corporate money out of politics.
In 2024 and 2025, McKinney co-sponsored bills in the state House to ban Michigan utilities and major government contractors from making political donations, but they failed. At the federal level, McKinney said he would support overturning Citizens United.
Detroiter Joshua Kochis said he wasn’t satisfied with Thanedar’s interactions with the public and cast his ballot for McKinney.
“It feels like every time that there is a public forum, Shri either doesn’t show up or isn’t responding to the issues that his constituents have,” he said. “That was one big thing that I was looking for a change for with Donavan because he’s more responsive to the community members.”
