The group that helped propel Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., to victory in 2018 has launched its first primary challenge of the 2026 election cycle against Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., according to Axios.
In a Monday morning post on X, Justice Democrats said they are “so proud to announce” state Rep. Donavan McKinney as “our first new candidate of the cycle.”
“Donavan represents the future Democrats should be fighting for: working class people taking our power back from multimillionaires to deliver for everyday people,” the group wrote.
In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive group also helped Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., defeat former Rep. Mike Capuano, D-Mass., in 2018.
Axios reported that the group supported primary challenges in 2020 that ousted former Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Lacy Clay, D-Mo., as well as helped secure several open seats for progressives in 2022.
That success streak hit a snag in 2024, however, when Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., both lost their reelection campaigns after winning in 2020 with the group’s assistance.
McKinney is the second Democrat to throw his hat in the ring in an effort to win Thanedar’s seat. He joins former state Sen. Adam Hollier, who lost a tight race to Thanedar in 2022 and tried to run against the affluent former businessman last year but failed to qualify for the ballot.
Thanedar, who largely self-funds his campaigns, managed to make it through a crowded primary field in 2022, while Hollier and eight other Democrats reportedly split the vote.
Following his win, Detroit, which is 80% Black, was reportedly left without a Black representative for the first time in almost 70 years.
McKinney’s entry into the race is likely one of many bids in the coming months that will try to tap into the surge of anti-incumbent anger directed at the Democrat establishment, following its devastating losses in the 2024 cycle.
According to reports, Leaders We Deserve, the group founded by Parkland school shooting survivor and Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, is also gearing up to spend millions on primary challenges for “asleep-at-the-wheel” Democrats in safe blue districts.
Hogg’s announcement created an uproar within the DNC, which is set to vote in August on a proposal that would require all DNC officers remain neutral in Democrat primary elections.
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