Justice Democrats Launches Its First Primary Challenge in 4 Years
The group has recruited Donavan McKinney, a 32-year-old Detroiter, to unseat incumbent Representative Shri Thanedar.
Donavan McKinney.
(Courtesy of the McKinney campaign)Justice Democrats, the progressive group best known for helping Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the Squad win elected office, announced on Monday that it is backing its first primary challenger of a sitting Democrat since the 2021–22 cycle: Michigan state Representative Donavan McKinney.
Representative McKinney, a 32-year-old lifelong Detroit resident, is running in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District against incumbent Shri Thanedar, a millionaire who has held the seat since 2023.
“I am so proud to have the endorsement and support of Justice Democrats in our campaign to bring working class leadership back to the mighty 13th,” said McKinney in a statement. “Our families are struggling to make ends meet while literal millionaires buy our elections and then ignore our calls when we need their help. Our campaign seeks to deliver a vision for this community bold enough to match the scales of the crises we are facing with real tangible results for people on the ground and courageous enough to fight back against the Trump-Musk administration with the urgency of someone who has lived our realities.”
McKinney was raised in a working-class home by his mother and grandmother. His family faced poverty wages and eviction; in his campaign launch video, he says he moved homes 13 times growing up. He is the first in his family to gain a college degree, and went on to become a member and then leader of SEIU Healthcare Michigan, the largest healthcare union in the state. In 2022, McKinney was elected to represent Michigan’s 11th State House District. He won reelection in 2024.
Now, he’s running for Congress in Michigan’s bluest district.
“I’m not running for Congress because I’m a millionaire or a billionaire. I’m running because I’m not. I’m running because our community deserves to have someone fighting back against the Trump-Musk administration who knows our struggles of housing insecurity, of wages that haven’t kept up with the cost of living, of environmental racism, and more—someone who has lived those struggles, and will fight for us with the urgency that this moment demands,” McKinney said.
In a press release announcing his candidacy, McKinney’s campaign described Thanedar as “having more in common with Donald Trump and Elon Musk than the community he was elected to represent,” and criticized him for taking corporate donations from pharmaceutical companies and defense contractors.
“Thanedar embodies everything wrong with Congress and what voters are fed up with, out-of-touch politicians who cannot be expected to stand up for working class people under attack because their priority is lining the pockets of themselves and their donors,” the statement added.
Thanedar has also faced criticism for his lack of district services, with federal and state officials from other districts claiming that they are often asked to help his constituents; McKinney’s launch release pointedly noted a long list of local public officials who have endorsed his candidacy.
McKinney’s task will not be simple. Thanedar, who is one of the 30 richest members of Congress, is known to pour millions of dollars of his own money into his election campaigns. According to the Associated Press, he spent over $10 million in an unsuccessful 2018 campaign for governor and over $5 million on his successful 2022 House campaign. The Detroit News reported earlier this month that “Thanedar ranked No. 1 among all 435 U.S. House lawmakers for spending last year on advertisements with his official budget.”
The primary campaign is also significant for Justice Democrats. After a string of victories with candidates like Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Summer Lee, the group spent the 2024 cycle fending off a huge influx of cash from primary challengers funded by groups like AIPAC. Two Justice Democrats–supported incumbents, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman, were defeated by AIPAC-backed primary opponents. McKinney’s campaign represents a return to playing offense.
Alexandra Rojas, executive director of Justice Democrats, said the group is proud to have McKinney as its first candidate of the election cycle. “Democratic voters in the face of unprecedented attacks on our livelihoods and liberties are fed up with a Democratic Party overrun by do-nothing career politicians who are totally unequipped to lead in this moment,” she said. “Donavan represents the future the Democratic Party should be fighting for: working-class people taking our power back from multimillionaires to deliver for everyday people.”
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