Black leaders in Detroit want a change in the city’s Congressional representation.

The U.S. House seat is currently held by businessman Shri Thanedar. State Representative Donavan McKinney is challenging him in the 2026 Democratic primary in the 13th District.

After Thanedar’s election in 2022, Detroit—the country’s largest majority-Black city —was left without representation by an African American.

Following redistricting, Congresswoman and native Detroiter Rashida Tlaib was elected to the 12th District.

The multi-millionaire Thanedar was able to win the Democratic primary in 2022 against eight opponents.

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans says narrowing the field will make things more difficult for Thanedar this time around.

“I’ve been advocating for at least four years for a change—an African American—to lead the 13th congressional district,” Evans said. “You have to connect with the communities that you serve. And the big problem we have now is that connection is not there.”

Thanedar refutes that he isn’t involved in his district and often highlights how much money came to the city during the Biden Administration.

Making what she calls a rare endorsement, former Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence is also advocating for voters to rally around McKinney.

“Why would I endorse against a sitting member of Congress? It breaks my heart that we, the people, have not seen our voices in the House,” Lawrence said. “We have not had someone who understands [us].”

“Of all the things that have been happening, have you heard from the person who’s sitting in that seat now? No. Do you have any confidence that when we’re fighting and we’re trying to push through this madness, that you have a fighter on your hands? Donavan is my fighter,” Lawrence said.

Affordability and accessibility

McKinney was elected to the state house as a progressive in 2022. In running for Congress, he has secured the endorsement of Tlaib and the rest of the Justice Democrats as well as Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

Lowering costs for working class people is the basis for his platform. That includes lowering car insurance and child care. McKinney is a father of three kids all under the age of four – including a newborn. He says he has a salary that’s twice the median for his district, and yet the costs are too high.

“We can only afford – off my state house salary – to put our oldest child into childcare,” McKinney said. “Childcare costs for us cost more than our mortgage. It is unbelievable.”

“If I’m struggling living paycheck to paycheck, just imagine what other folks across the district have to go through, day in and day out.”

In his own endorsement speech, Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist laid out why he thinks McKinney is the right person for the moment.

“[This moment] demands the leadership that harkens back to the progressive vision for Congress that has always emanated from the city of Detroit—when we first had a Black caucus,” Gilchrist said. “The vision for that came from a Black congressman from Detroit. There is something missing in Congress, not having black leadership from Detroit.”

“But the thing about a hole is we can fill it.”