By: Keith Williams, Chair, Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus
2026 will be a defining year for Michigan Democrats. Donald Trump is back in power, and we must fight Republican attacks on workers, voting rights, civil rights, immigrants, public education, and health care. But we also have to decide what type of party we want to be and what records, values, and experiences we elevate.
Black Democrats have a crucial role to play in shaping Michigan’s future. We need leaders who understand our communities, can pass tangible legislation that improves the economic condition of Black families, and can deliver priorities like Hope Zones, which can serve as an engine for direct neighborhood investment.
No race captures this choice more clearly than the State Senate District 1 primary in Detroit and Downriver, where Justin Onwenu is facing Abraham Aiyash.
Onwenu is a fourth-generation Detroiter, organizer, attorney, Detroit’s first Director of Small Business Affairs under Mayor Mary Sheffield, and an appointee to Gov. Whitmer’s Black Leadership Advisory Council. Aiyash is a former state representative who represented Hamtramck and Detroit’s east side. Their records and backgrounds are very different.
Voters should consider the following:
First, in the face of Trump’s attacks on our economy, civil rights, voting rights, and the Constitution, we need leaders who will oppose Trump’s agenda, not help create the conditions for it.
Justin Onwenu supported Vice President Harris and Democrats against Trump. Abraham Aiyash did not. Aiyash discouraged support for Vice President Harris and then refused to support her in the 2024 election.
Those choices mattered. Many voters sat out or cast ballots for third-party candidates or Trump, and now we are living with the consequences: attacks on our rights, rising instability, and policies that hurt Black workers and families.
If we cannot trust Aiyash to stand clearly against Trump, we cannot trust him to protect our civil rights, defend voting rights, close the wealth gap, or make life more affordable.
Second, this race is about commitment to our communities.
Aiyash’s relationship with Senate District 1 raises serious questions. He previously represented Hamtramck in the state House, which is located in Senate District 3. He later moved to Detroit last summer after expressing concerns about his ability to connect with and win support from Black voters on Detroit’s east side (whose district has a greater number of Black voters).
When he was in the state House, a Hamtramck councilman said Aiyash “neglected us.”
Moving is not the issue by itself. But when a candidate expresses concern about connecting with Black voters, is not trusted by leaders from his own community, supports crazy policies like defunding the police, and then asks voters in another district to trust him, skepticism is warranted.
Third, Democrats have to decide whether we want rhetoric or results.
As House Majority Floor Leader, Aiyash had power and responsibility, yet more than 200 Democratic bills died at the end of session that would’ve improved our lives considerably. Now he is seeking a promotion by promising policies he did not deliver while in the House.
He also led House Democrats in missed roll-call votes in 2023, voted yes on a bill to give tax breaks for data centers (House Bill 4905), and accepted thousands of dollars in corporate lobbyist-funded food, flights, drinks, hotels, and travel (according to a Michigan Transparency Network Lobby Expenditure analysis).
That record does not match his rhetoric.
I believe in markets, entrepreneurship, and direct investment in Black communities so our people can build generational wealth and thrive. But voters should be skeptical of a politician who campaigns as a socialist ready to take on billionaires, corporations, and lobbyists while quietly accepting thousands in free gifts from the lobbying firms for health insurers, banks, and utilities that he claims to oppose.
This race is about more than personality. It is about whether Black Michiganders send someone to Lansing who is rooted, reliable, and ready to deliver.
Justin Onwenu has the background, relationships, and record to fight for Black communities and move our priorities forward. Abraham Aiyash does not.
Keith Williams is the Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus.
