Residents in the 13th Congressional District could likely choose to advance a Democratic Socialist over a Democratic incumbent to square off against a Republican challenger in the general election this fall, the result of a closely watched primary indicative of changing attitudes toward progressive politics and a step toward fulfilling long-held hopes among party advocates to return the seat to Black representation.
At the time the Chronicle went to print on election night, McKinney and Thanedar were neck-and-neck with nearly 35,000 votes counted.
McKinney, who currently represents portions of Wayne and Macomb counties in Michigan’s state house, could be on November’s ballot this fall as the Democratic nominee to represent the 13th, a role currently held by incumbent Shri Thanedar, whose third bid to retain the seat ended Tuesday night. McKinney will face Taras “T.P.” Nykoriak, a frequent ballot-hopper and the Republican Party’s nominee for this race.
“Our movement united union workers and veterans, clergy and socialists, senators and representatives, city councilmembers and county executives, working people, mayors and school board presidents to show how the poorest district in the state can come together to defeat the richest lobbies and multimillionaires,” McKinney said. “I am so proud of all the work we have done together and so excited to see what the future holds.”
If Thanedar is defeated in the primary, it will mark the close – for the moment – of a bewildering career in Michigan politics, one that began out of ambiguity and ends with no clear ambition. Following a failed run for the governor’s seat in 2018, Thanedar, an Indian immigrant and chemicals entrepreneur who’d only moved to the state from Missouri eight years earlier, found another route to Lansing after winning the race to represent the 3rd District in the state House, before then turning his attention to D.C. and moving within the bounds of the U.S. House’s 13th District, winning consecutive races in 2020 and 2022.
What Thanedar’s end goal has been still confuses political insiders, but a path for McKinney to prevail in November could see the country’s largest Black-majority city have Black representation at the national level for the first time since 2023, when Michigan lost a seat in the U.S. House after the 14th District, last represented by Southfield’s Brenda Lawrence, was eliminated and its portions reallocated to remaining districts.
“It will be so exciting and important for Donavan McKinney to represent us in Congress (if he wins),” Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II told the Michigan Chronicle during a watch party for McKinney and other Democratic candidates at the IBEW 58 hall in the city’s Corktown neighborhood.
Gilchrist, who himself is running for Secretary of State, only offered to endorse two candidates seeking office, McKinney being one of them. “To restore the seat that Charles Diggs sat in, one of the co-founders of the CBC [Congressional Black Caucus], and now have a Black Detroiter back in that seat would be important not just for Michigan’s congressional delegation, but to really anchor the CBC of the conference of the Congress.
“I cannot wait to work with McKinney (if he wins) and how he’s going to be a fighter for our people,” Gilchrist added.
At 34, McKinney also represents a wave of younger millennial and Gen Z-aged politicos whose left-of-the-left ideals have been increasingly embraced by voters who don’t mind the “socialist” part of Democratic Socialism – or conversely, adding to growing frustration with Democrats whose identifiers like “centrist” or “moderate” are silent.
Voters at Wayne County Community College’s polling place in downtown Detroit, which draws registrants from one of the city’s more age- and race-diverse areas, almost universally reflected that sentiment when speaking with the Chronicle after casting their ballots.
“I can’t f*** with Shri,” said Joe, a voter who declined to share his last name, who chose McKinney over the incumbent Thanedar. “I agreed with Donavan more than Shri, and you could say that my vote was more against Shri from my perspective.”
McKinney certainly is not Michigan or even Detroit’s first socialist; one could go as far back as late city councilman Ken Cockrel or as recent as sitting U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib. He is, however, arriving at a time when socialism among Democratic circles – and voting blocs – is being taken more seriously as not only a counter to conservatives but also a message to establishment Dems. Where socialists like Tlaib and New York’s Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez captured attention, McKinney and recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are capturing votes — taking on anti-capitalist stances, diversifying their voter bases and loudly criticizing their peers on the same side of the aisle.
“I think Donavan is somebody who will be in the community, be connected, and folks in the district will know where he stands and where he is,” Detroit City Councilman Denzel McCampbell, a progressive Democrat, told the Chronicle at McKinney’s watch party.
Like McKinney, McCampbell, a former Tlaib staffer, also leaned into socialist ideals to win a seat on council.
“What I’m really excited about is the constituent services aspect,” McCampbell says. “Some of the everyday issues have been missing in the 13th – I’ve heard people having issues with calling [the office] and being a true partner with all the federal, local and state governments. I think [McKinney] is going to be great at that, and I’m really excited to work with him in that way.”
McKinney’s potential victory in tandem with a potential win for Abdul El-Sayed over Haley Stevens as the Democratic nominee to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate shows a state flashing a new shade of blue that may seem familiar. Signs of a wave of socialism could linger as they did in 2016 when state voters chose then-presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders – who endorsed McKinney, El-Sayed, and a number of other candidates here – over Hillary Clinton as its initial Democratic choice for the White House.
