In the Democratic race for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, a two-term incumbent seeks to hold onto his seat amid a challenge from a progressive state representative.
State Rep. Donavan McKinney, a 34-year-old Black Detroit native who is serving his second term in the state House, is Shri Thanedar’s main opponent in the Aug. 4 primary. Two other Democrats, Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters and Realtor and restaurant owner John Goci, were disqualified from the ballot and are mounting write-in campaigns.
McKinney touts an affordability-centric campaign, while Thanedar, 71, has said that his top priorities are lowered costs, reproductive rights, voting rights and standing up to President Donald Trump, clean water and stronger infrastructure.
First elected in 2022, Thanedar defeated eight other Democrats and left Detroit without Black representation for the first time in nearly 70 years. An Ann Arbor-area businessman with an estimated net worth of $40 million, Thanedar poured millions of his own money into his political campaigns over the years.
In Congress, Thanedar has been criticized for introducing bills that won’t gain the support to pass in an apparent attempt to build political clout. Last April, he introduced a bill to impeach Trump.
McKinney represents the 11th state district in Lansing, which is one of the poorest in Michigan. His top priorities if elected to 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, a stance he shares with his opponent.
One of the most contentious issues in the 13th District had been the planned ICE detention center in Romulus. Thanedar and McKinney both opposed the facility and supported abolishing ICE. In June, federal officials announced they were scrapping the plan and wanted to sell the building.
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. Bivings is running as a write-in candidate. King did not file to run as a write-in, according to the clerk’s office. Republican Articia Bomer also filed to run as a write-in.
In the 12th Congressional District, Democratic incumbent Rashida Tlaib is running for a fifth term in the US House of Representatives. She’s challenged by Democrats Shanelle Jackson and Byron H. Nolen. James D. Hooper is the Republican candidate.