Michigan primary results: Shri Thanedar wins, likely secures reelection
- U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar wins Democratic primary over Detroit Council member Mary Waters
- The 13th Congressional District is solidly Democratic, meaning Thanedar will likely coast to reelection in November
- He'll face Martell Bivings, who ran unopposed in Republican primary and lost to Thanedar by a wide margin in 2022
LANSING — U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar is likely headed to a second term in Congress after winning a contested Democratic primary over Detroit City Council member Mary Waters.
The Associated Press called the race for Thanedar shortly after 2 a.m. as the state’s largest city began to report significant results. See the latest tally here:
Waters, a former state lawmaker, mounted a strong challenge to Thanedar. She was backed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and argued Thanedar had not done enough for the district.
But Thanedar survived the challenge and is expected to carry the seat in the November general election given the district’s strong Democratic advantage.
He’ll face Republican Martell Bivings, a former business liaison with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, who ran unopposed in the GOP primary. He lost to Thanedar by nearly 50 percentage points in 2022.
Related:
- Michigan primary 2024 results live: U.S. House
- Michigan primary 2024 results live: U.S. Senate
- Michigan primary 2024 results live: State House
Despite shifting congressional boundaries, the region has routinely elected Democratic representatives since the late 1940s. In its current iteration, the 13th Congressional District contains portions of Detroit and surrounding suburbs, including Hamtramck, Southgate, Grosse Pointe and Dearborn Heights.
Local voters backed Joe Biden over Donald Trump by 50 percentage points in 2020. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 51 points in 2016.
Thanedar won a crowded Democratic primary in 2022. The win left Detroit without a Black representative in Congress, but Thanedar vowed at the time that the seat would be “owned by the people of the district.”
This time around, fewer Black Democrats ran against Thanedar. Waters had the backing of some big names, including Duggan and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
Adam Hollier, a Democrat who represented Detroit in the state Senate from 2018 to 2023, ran for the seat a second time with high-profile backers like ex-U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence. But he was disqualified from the primary ballot in May after the state rejected signatures on his nominating petitions.
Prior to serving in Congress, Thanedar grew up in southern India and came to the U.S. in 1979 to earn a doctoral degree in chemistry from the University of Akron. After becoming a U.S. citizen in 1988, he worked as a researcher and eventual entrepreneur, helping to develop pharmaceutical drugs in the process.
Thanedar ran for governor in 2018 but lost the Democratic nomination to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He won election to the Michigan House in 2020 and to Congress in 2022.
Thanedar last year renounced his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, citing his support for Israel in an ongoing war with Hamas. A former aide later accused Thanedar of leaning on congressional staff for campaign work, which the congressman's chief of staff denied.
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