14-04-2025
Adam Hollier to challenge Rep. Shri Thanedar for 3rd time
Former state Sen. Adam Hollier of Detroit said Monday he will make another attempt at defeating U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar in next year's Democratic primary.
Last year, Hollier — running a second time against Thaendar, D-Detroit, in the predominantly Democrat 13th Congressional District — stumbled badly after putting together a string of endorsements, including those from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson; former U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield; and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, only to be knocked off the primary ballot for failing to file enough valid petition signatures.
Thanedar, an Indian immigrant and millionaire businessman, easily beat Detroit City Council member Mary Waters and went on to retain the seat. In 2022, in what was then a recently redrawn district, Thanedar, then a state representative, won out in a nine-person primary, with Hollier coming in second, 28%-23.5%.
Hollier, who served for a time as director of Michigan's Veterans Affairs Agency under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, issued a statement on Monday saying, "From housing to daycare to the rising costs of everything from groceries to the brakes on our cars, we're in a real crisis in this country. We need bold solutions and leaders who won't back down in the face of this challenge. The last thing we need are more millionaires and billionaires like Elon Musk and Shri Thanedar who are only in it for themselves.'
While both Musk, who is the head of Tesla and a key adviser to Republican President Donald Trump, and Thanedar are both wealthy, Thanedar has been consistently critical of Trump's agenda on using tariffs widely and his and Musk's efforts to eradicate or defund parts of the federal government, including the Department of Education. He has also been a reliable Democratic vote in the U.S. House.
Thanedar has been the target of claims, at least prior to his last election, that his office was not adequately focused on policy issues or constituent services, accusations he strongly denied. The Detroit News also reported on Thanedar's use of his office budget to pay for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of media, advertising and billboards last year. Thanedar has said the spending was intended to better serve constituents and was reviewed by the relevant committee that signs off on office spending.
Thanedar was also criticized for appearing to change his position on what he had called in the state Legislature Israel's "apartheid" regime, only to criticize other Democratic groups that he felt did not forcefully enough denounce Hamas' attack on Israel in October 2023, which led to Israel's assault on Gaza in reprisal. The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a key supporter of Israeli policies in the U.S., backed Hollier in the 2022 election.
Hollier, who was born and raised in Detroit accused Thanedar of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars "putting up self-portraits of himself all over the district,' a reference to Thanedar's billboards. Hollier said he wants to focus on building more affordable housing in metro Detroit, lower the costs of childcare, fight tariffs and reduce taxes on the poor and middle class.
'Here in Detroit, when we get knocked down, we get right back up," he said in a prepared statement. "We keep fighting."
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@ Follow him on X @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Adam Hollier to challenge Rep. Shri Thanedar for 3rd time
