Who’s running against Shri Thanedar in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District?

• U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar will have to survive a crowded Democratic primary to win re-election
• Former state Sen. Adam Hollier and Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters also running for the post
• The 13th District, which is reliably Democratic, includes part of Detroit and other Wayne County communities

LANSING — U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar’s toughest battle in his quest for re-election will likely come in the August primary, where a handful of fellow Democrats are seeking to unseat the first-term lawmaker. 

Challengers include former state Sen. Adam Hollier, who finished second to Thanedar in the 2022 primary, and Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters. 

The 13th Congressional District, which is reliably Democratic, includes part of Detroit and other Wayne County communities. It stretches from the Grosse Pointes downriver to Ecorse, Southgate and Romulus.

Local voters backed Joe Biden over then-President Donald Trump by 50 percentage points in 2020. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 51 points in 2016. 

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Thanedar won office two years ago after emerging from a crowded Democratic primary field and beating out Republican Martell Bivings — who is running again  — by roughly 47 percentage points in the general election.  

His victory left Detroit without Black representation for the first time since 1955.

Six major-party candidates filed required petition signatures by the April 23 deadline, including five Democrats and one Republican. Winners of the Aug. 6 primary will square off in the Nov. 5 general election. Third parties can nominate candidates at conventions later in the year. 

Democrats

Mohammad Rabbi Alam: Alam, of Hamtramck, served in the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2006, according to his campaign. He was chair of Muslims for Hillary in 2016 and Muslims for Biden in 2020. Alam has a graduate degree from the University of the Pacific, a graduate degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City and a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas, according to his campaign. By running for Congress, Alam said he hopes “to play an active role in making my community, state and country a safer, better place to raise my children, run my business, and forge a future filled with unlimited promise.”

Shakira Lynn Hawkins: A criminal defense attorney with law degrees from the University of Michigan and Detroit Mercy, Hawkins ran but lost for a judicial position on Michigan’s 3rd Circuit Court in 2020. While she filed to run for Congress in Wayne County, as of late April Hawkins had not yet registered with the Federal Elections Commission or promoted a campaign website. As a judicial candidate in 2020, Hawkins supported reforming the state’s cash bail system and improving jail diversion programming for at-risk youths.

Adam Hollier: A former state lawmaker, Hollier represented Detroit in the Michigan Senate from 2018 to 2022 but did not seek re-election for that post. Instead, he ran for Congress and finished second to Thanedar in the primary. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2023 appointed Hollier as director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. He is a team chief and paratrooper in the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion of the Army Reserves, according to his campaign. He’s said his top priorities include making child care more accessible and affordable, raising the federal minimum wage and expanding voting rights.

Shri Thanedar: 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. The Detroit Democrat is a member of the U.S. House’s Committee on Homeland Security and is the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security. 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. 

Mary Waters: Another former Michigan lawmaker, Waters represented Detroit in the state House from 2001 until 2006. More recently, she’s served on the Detroit City Council since 2021. In that role, she’s proposed establishing gun free zones in the city’s downtown area. She also chairs the council’s Minority Business Task Force, which pushes city departments to commit to prioritizing local, small business to fulfill city contracts.Waters moved to Michigan as a teenager and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied communications and behavioral sciences, according to her city council biography. 

Republicans

Martell Bivings: Bivings, a former business liaison with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, ran against Thanedar in 2022 and lost by nearly 50 percentage points in the general election. While he had not set up a new campaign website as of April, Bivings previously ran on issues like expanding federal programs like social security, Medicaid and living assistance for senior citizens, strengthening protections for the Great Lakes and building accountability into federal welfare programs.