A primary race in Detroit could be a barometer of whether black voters are energized by the surge of socialism overtaking the Democratic Party this cycle.
State Rep. Donavan McKinney, a socialist who has the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America, got a boost this week in his bid to unseat Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) to represent the Detroit-anchored 13th Congressional District, locking in support from key members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Lateefah Simon (D-CA), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) have all thrown their support behind McKinney, who is black.
Former CBC Chairman Steven Horsford (D-NV) also endorsed McKinney, while Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), another member of the CBC, previously endorsed him.
“It takes a fighter to know one,” Horsford said in a statement endorsing McKinney. “Donavan McKinney has spent his career fighting for working people and families — not powerful interests.”
He continued, “At a time when costs are too high and too many communities are being left behind, Donavan is ready to deliver real results. I’m proud to endorse him for Congress.”
McKinney, who was recruited by the progressive organization Justice Democrats, perhaps poses the most serious primary challenger Thanedar has faced to date. But whether or not black voters will support McKinney, a current DSA member, over Thanedar, a former DSA member, is unclear.
A split in black support could decide the outcome of the race, as Thanedar, an Indian American, won his seat in 2022 after multiple black candidates split black support. Thanedar won the primary with just 28% of the vote, leaving Detroit without a black representative for the first time in more than 50 years.
A poll commissioned by the Detroit News and WDIV Local 4 found that black support for socialism drags behind other Democratic voters in Michigan.
The poll, conducted by Glengariff Group, Inc. from July 8 to July 11, found that while 58.5% of white voters would be willing to vote for a Democratic socialist, only 42.6% of Black voters said the same. Of the remaining Black voters, 24.5% said they would not vote for a Democratic socialist, while 27.7% were undecided.
The survey polled 500 likely voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.
Thanedar renounced his affiliation with DSA following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, saying the political organization failed to properly denounce the attack.
Socialist candidates have found most success with college-educated and white voters. A Pew Research survey found white Democrats are more likely than other demographics to support socialist candidates. The survey found 40% of white Democrats reported liking a political leader who describes themselves as a “democratic socialist,” while only 30% of Asian and 21% of black Democrats said the same.
College-educated Democrats were also more likely to like leaders who identify as socialists, 41% to 26%.
A New York Times analysis found that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, lost several of the city’s black neighborhoods in his 2025 primary. The outlet reported that his challenger, Andrew Cuomo, overperformed in precincts where at least 70% of residents were black, even more than doubling Mamdani’s support, 59% to 26%.
However, in 2026, Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District and socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Mamdani ally, won her primary bid to oust Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) with 48% of Black voters, compared to Espaillat’s 46%.
The primary between Thanedar and McKinney is set for Aug. 4. Michigan’s 13th Congressional District is rated solid blue by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The district is majority-black, with 46.9% of the population being black or African American. The second largest population is white, at 39.5%.
“This seat had a long history of black representation in Congress,” Erin Covey of Cook Political Report told the Washington Examiner, explaining that up until Thanedar won the seat to succeed retiring Rep. Brenda Lawrence in 2023, Detroit had always had a Black member of Congress going back decades.
“So for that reason, there has always been a kind of large segment of the Black community in Detroit that has opposed Thanedar,” Covey said. “The racial element obviously is a huge factor as well, and is just as big of a factor as kind of the ideological contrast between McKinney and Thanedar.”
Thanedar, who is seeking his third term in Congress, is seen as a vulnerable incumbent and lags behind McKinney in support from CBC members, but is supported by Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and Joe Neguse (D-CO). The incumbent is also backed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), though House leadership typically endorses members.
Neither the CBC nor the CBC PAC has endorsed in the race. The CBC PAC typically does not endorse against incumbent members.
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Thanedar also enjoys an outsize spending advantage. Thanedar, who is supported by crypto money and is independently wealthy, reported having $5,029,239 cash on hand as of July 15. McKinney, meanwhile, reported having $142,853 cash on hand. He’s spent more than $2.2 million on his campaign.
Despite the cash gap, Covey said she felt the primary was “quite competitive,” saying it’s different than the primaries other members backed by the DSA have won in states such as New York and Colorado.
Covey pointed to the “detractors” Thanedar has in the district, saying he has “always been a bit of an eccentric figure in Michigan state politics.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Thanedar, McKinney, and the CBC for comment.