SHRI YA LATER: Shri Thanedar loses his seat in Michigan congressional primary

Shri Thanedar, the Democrat representing Michigan's 13th Congressional District in the House, has lost his bid to retain his seat. On Wednesday morning, the Associated Press called the primary for his challenger, Donavan McKinney. 

Per AP's results as of 9:55 am, with 99 percent of the vote in, Thanedar received 48.1 percent of the vote to McKinney's 51.9 percent. Less than 4,000 votes separated the two Democrat candidates. 
 

Thanedar wrote on Wednesday morning, “I want to congratulate Representative Donavan McKinney on a hard fought race. It was a tough election cycle and, in the end, the voters of the 13th District chose him to represent them moving forward,” said Thanedar.

“It was the honor of my life to represent the 13th District in the United States Congress. I’m proud of all the work we did, from solving over 4300 constituent cases, to securing $45 million in funding for projects in every single part of the district, to leading the fight against Trump and his administration. I look forward to serving out the remainder of my term and wish Representative McKinney the best.”

 

McKinney, a democratic socialist and Michigan state rep, is one of the latest progressives to win their primary across the country. His platform includes “Medicare for All,” restricting aid to Israel, and investments in sectors that include housing and clean energy. McKinney had the backing of a number of prominent progressives, including Abdul El-Sayed, who won the Michigan primary for the US Senate, as well as Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep Rashida Tlaib. 

Thanedar, who has a fortune worth tens of millions due to a chemical testing lab he helped found in 2010, faced controversy after around 170 dogs and dozens of monkeys were abandoned at a facility he owned. He also faced controversy as a congressman over billboards he paid for with taxpayer money.