Rep. Shri Thanedar draws a Democratic primary challenge as the left seeks to flex its muscle in Michigan

A two-term Michigan state representative backed by the progressive group Justice Democrats is launching a primary challenge against Rep.

A two-term Michigan state representative backed by the progressive group Justice Democrats is launching a primary challenge against Rep. Shri Thanedar on Monday, setting the stage for a significant fight over the Detroit-area House seat.

The race will also serve as another proxy fight over the war in Gaza as Thanedar, previously a critic of the Israeli government in the state Legislature, renounced his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, saying the DSA did not offer adequate condemnation of it. Earlier in 2023, Thanedar took a trip to Israel sponsored by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In a statement, Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney, 32, contrasted himself with Thanedar, a multimillionaire and two-term incumbent. McKinney’s campaign described Thanedar in a press release as “Detroit’s own Elon Musk.”

“I’m not running for Congress because I’m a millionaire or a billionaire,” McKinney said. “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.”

Then-state Rep.-elect Donavan McKinney speaks in Detroit on Nov. 22, 2022.Junfu Han / USA Today NetworkMcKinney joins former state Sen. Adam Hollier, who previously sought to unseat Thanedar, in the Democratic primary.