PIO wins Democratic primary in Michigan

NEW YORK: An Indian-American self-made entrepreneur, Shri Thanedar, 67, has won the Democratic primary in Michigan, with community organisations terming it as a “historic first for the South Asian community. ” The Detroit Free Press reported that Thanedar, “who has been representing a state House district in Detroit for two years”, won as his main opponents, state Senator Adam Hollier and Focus: HOPE CEO Portia Roberson, conceded the race. ”

It reported on Wednesday that with 99% of the vote counted, Thanedar, “who poured millions of his own money into the race, led with 28%, compared to 23. 5% for Hollier and 17% for Roberson . ” It said Thanedar led Hollier by about 3,800 votes — 22,302 to 18,513 — and was well ahead of the other candidates in the nine-person field, according to unofficial results.

NYT reported on Thanedar as talking to voters in Wyandotte before the polls closed on Tuesday. Thanedar had said he was running because he wanted to make the American dream accessible to more people and believed voters would see him as the favourite because he was already representing portions of the district as a state representative in the Michigan legislature. He has written about his rise from poverty in India to owning a chemical testing laboratory in Ann Arbor. He said on Tuesday that voters did not care whether he was Black and blamed the news media and “elites” for fuelling the divide. “My constituents say as long as the person works hard for us, his race or her race doesn’t matter,” Thanedar said. In a statement declaring victory, he pledged to continue the “fight for economic and racial justice in Congress. ”

“In November, he will face Republican Martell Bivings, who has worked as a liaison with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and ran unopposed in the Republican primary. But in this solidly Democratic-leaning district, Thanedar is almost certain to win,” the media report said.

NYT also reported that Defeat of Adam Hollier, an army reserve captain and paratrooper who is Black and was born and raised in Detroit, means the nation’s largest majority Black city risks being without Black representation in Congress for first time in decades. Detroit’s roughly 80% residents are Black.