- Shri Thanedar remains locked in a razor-thin primary battle against Donavan McKinney
- The margin swung repeatedly overnight, with Thanedar up 54% to 45% in the latest count
- Third candidate Nazmul Hassan and others were disqualified, narrowing the field
- A McKinney win would restore Black congressional representation to majority-Black Detroit
Two-term Congressman Shri Thanedar is fighting for his political life in Michigan’s 13th District, and as of early Wednesday morning, nobody can say for certain who’s actually won.
Why Shri Thanedar Is Suddenly Vulnerable
Thanedar first won this Detroit-area seat in 2022, taking a crowded nine-way primary with just 28.3% of the vote before cruising to reelection in 2024.
This year looks completely different. State Rep. Donavan McKinney, a Democratic Socialists of America member, mounted a serious progressive challenge that’s kept the race genuinely competitive throughout election night.
Here’s how tight things got. The lead changed hands multiple times as votes came in, with Thanedar holding a 54% to 45% edge in the most recent count reported by the Detroit News.
Earlier in the night, McKinney had actually led before Thanedar’s numbers climbed back ahead, illustrating just how unpredictable this specific count has been.
The Field Behind Thanedar And McKinney
Here’s a detail worth understanding about how this race narrowed. The primary originally included additional candidates, including one named Nazmul Hassan, before two contenders were disqualified from the ballot entirely.
That left a cleaner two-candidate race between Thanedar and McKinney, a dynamic political analysts said could actually help McKinney‘s chances against a better-funded incumbent.
Thanedar has largely self-funded his campaign, giving him a significant financial advantage that insiders widely expected would carry him through Tuesday’s vote comfortably.
Why This Race Carries Extra Historical Weight
Here’s what makes this specific contest matter beyond typical primary math. Thanedar’s 2022 election marked the first time in decades Detroit lacked Black congressional representation, a fact McKinney’s campaign has leaned into directly.
A McKinney victory would restore that representation to a district that remains majority-Black, a detail supporters at his Corktown watch party emphasized throughout the night.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib spoke at that same watch party, applauding McKinney’s campaign as chants of “Shri is not for me” rippled through the crowd of roughly 300 supporters.
Both candidates actually share considerable policy common ground. Both campaigned against Trump, both support universal healthcare, and both back ending US involvement in the Iran war.
Thanedar notably renounced his own Democratic Socialists of America membership back in October 2023, citing the group’s failure to condemn Hamas’s attack on Israel, a decision that’s shaped his contrast with McKinney throughout this race.
With ballots still being counted early Wednesday morning, Michigan’s 13th District remains one of the night’s genuine nail-biters, a race testing whether progressive challengers can finally unseat sitting Democratic incumbents in deep-blue urban districts.