Democratic Socialist Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) in the Democratic primary for the state’s 13th Congressional District, ending the second-term congressman’s bid for renomination in a Detroit-based seat that Democrats have held for decades.
Thanedar is among several incumbent Democrats who have lost to Democratic Socialist-backed candidates during primaries for November’s midterms, including candidates in New York and Colorado earlier this cycle.
The Associated Press called the race at 8:55 a.m. on Aug. 5. McKinney had received 57,714 votes, or 51.9 percent, to Thanedar’s 53,494, or 48.1 percent, as of that time with 99 percent of votes counted.
Thanedar conceded in a statement posted to his X account on Wednesday morning, saying he “came up just short.”
“I want to congratulate Representative Donavan McKinney on a hard fought race,” Thanedar said. “It was a tough election cycle and, in the end, the voters of the 13th District chose him to represent them moving forward.”
He said serving the district was the honor of his life and that he would serve out the remainder of his term.
McKinney campaigned on Medicare for All, new restrictions on U.S. military aid to Israel, and large public investments in clean energy and housing. He will face off against Republican nominee T.P. Nykoriak in November, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. McKinney’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his victory on Wednesday.
The Democratic Socialists of America congratulated McKinney on its verified account on Wednesday, describing him as “a former union member fighting to get money out of politics, a green new deal, and union jobs.”
Leaders We Deserve, the political action committee founded by former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, said McKinney was the first challenger it had backed against an incumbent this cycle.
“We are beyond proud that he’s replaced a corporate and MAGA-money-backed Democrat,” the group wrote. “It isn’t enough to oppose Republicans; we need a stronger party filled with young, principled fighters like McKinney.”
The national party congratulated the winner without reference to the contest’s ideological framing. DNC Chair Ken Martin called McKinney “a proven champion who will always put the people of his district first” and said the committee was “ready to work alongside him to lower costs and deliver for working families.”
Thanedar, a businessman and immigrant from India, won the seat in 2022 out of a nine-way primary. Cook Political Report rates the district as solidly Democratic.
Former state Sen. Adam Hollier ran against Thanedar in 2024 with significant backing but was kept off the ballot after election officials determined he had not submitted enough valid signatures. He also entered the 2026 race but dropped out to run instead for secretary of state and then for state senate.
McKinney launched his campaign in April 2025, roughly 16 months before the primary.
“I’m running because our community deserves to have someone fighting back against the Trump-Musk administration who knows our struggles,” he said at the time. “Someone who has lived those struggles, and will fight for us with the urgency that this moment demands.”
Thanedar, when asked about his challengers when McKinney entered, said that voters had “a choice between my bold, strong and proven leadership or Hollier’s incompetence, or McKinney’s inexperience.”
Thanedar renounced the Democratic Socialists of America in 2023, according to a statement from his congressional office, after previously being a member.
