Democratic socialist Donavan McKinney wins Michigan House seat

Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D) is projected to win the race to represent Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, adding to the growing coalition of House progressives, according to Decision Desk HQ.

The democratic socialist had defeated incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.), whom McKinney painted as an out-of-touch multimillionaire, in the primary. Running in a solidly blue district, McKinney’s primary win all but guaranteed he would be headed to Congress.

Throughout his campaign, McKinney gathered a wave of support from progressive members of the congressional Democratic caucus, like fellow Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The progressive PAC Justice Democrats chose McKinney as its first candidate it endorsed this season, saying back in April , “Donavan represents the future Democrats should be fighting for: working class people taking our power back from multimillionaires to deliver for everyday people. Always with the people.”

McKinney made his support for unions a core element of his campaign, having been a former member of SEIU Healthcare Michigan.

“I’m fighting for all my union family and for every worker to have the right to form a union, earn a living wage, and be able to provide for their family. That starts with making the ultra-wealthy like Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and Congressman Shri Thanedar pay their fair share — like the rest of us working people already do,” McKinney’s campaign website states.

McKinney’s win came after Thanedar distanced himself from fellow progressives, renouncing his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas.

McKinney has called the actions of Israel in Gaza a “genocide” and argued to “end the military aid and arms that America gives to Israel.”