Donavan McKinney (born June 16, 1992) is an American Democratic politician from

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He has been a member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 ...

since 2023, currently representing the 11th district.

Political career

He was elected to the

from the 14th district in the 2022 election. Following court-mandated redistricting of the Detroit area, McKinney ran in the 11th district for the 2024 election, winning re-election. In April 2025, McKinney announced his candidacy for

Michigan's 13th congressional district Michigan's 13th congressional district is a United States List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in Wayne County, Michigan. It is currently represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Shri Thanedar. ...

in the 2026 election, challenging incumbent

Shri Thanedar Shri Thanedar (; ; born February 22, 1955) is an American businessman, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 13th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Thanedar served as a mem ...

. He is endorsed by

Rashida Tlaib Rashida Harbi Tlaib ( ; born July 24, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from Michigan since 2019, representing the state's 12th congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, sh ...

, the Justice Democrats, Senator

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...

, and the Michigan chapter of

Service Employees International Union Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing 2 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of m ...

, of which McKinney is a former member.

Political positions

McKinney has been critical of Michigan's utility companies, and of corporate influence in politics in general. He co-sponsored a bipartisan bill package that would prohibit political campaign contributions from utility companies, such as

DTE Energy DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison until 1996) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services in the United States and Canada. Its operating units include an ele ...

and

Consumers Energy Consumers Energy is an investor owned utility that provides natural gas and electricity to 6.7 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. It serves customers in all 68 of the state's Lower Peninsula counties. It is the primary subsidiary of C ...

, as well as from major state government contractors, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield. McKinney also supports an increase to the credit that Michigan energy companies must pay to consumers affected by prolonged power outages, arguing that the current rate of $35 dollars per day is not enough to offset the costs of spoiled medicine or groceries.

References

External links

Campaign website
1992 births 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the Michigan Legislature African-American state legislators in Michigan Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Living people Politicians from Detroit {{Michigan-MIRepresentative-stub