News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena have been restored. Click here to learn more.

Shri Thanedar wins Democratic primary for 13th Congressional District

WDET

Shri Thanedar won his primary to represent parts of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes, and downriver. The state lawmaker is likely to secure the congressional district in the general election, which is seen as a Democratic stronghold.

Thanedar has only lived in Detroit for a short time, but the city has backed him in the three elections he's run in. That includes this primary, where he beat eight other Democrats on the ballot to represent Michigan's 13th Congressional District. Thanedar says he's grateful for the support.

"Democracy has taken its course and now I'm ready to serve," he says.

Thanedar immigrated from India, and rand a chemical testing company in Ann Arbor before pursuing politics. He says in terms of policy, poverty is a major concern.

"The wealth gap that we see in the community is unacceptable," he says.

Thanedar self-funded his various bids for office. He's spend more than $10 million on his political campaigns, which started in 2018 when he ran for governor.

Eli Newman is assistant news director and editor. He works with the WKAR news and digital content teams to facilitate the creation of meaningful and thought-provoking multimedia news content for WKAR Public Media.