MoveOn is proud to endorse Donavan McKinney for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District!
Leadership and Experience
Donavan McKinney is a lifelong Detroiter who carries the lived experience of his community directly into the halls of power. Raised in northeast Detroit by his mother and grandmother, Donavan’s family survived on poverty wages, enduring the trauma of housing insecurity and being forced to move more than 13 times due to evictions. He channeled that adversity into determination, becoming a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and the first in his family to graduate from college, earning his degree from the University of Michigan. Before entering office, Donavan served as a frontline organizer and political director for SEIU Healthcare Michigan, bringing workers together to demand living wages and dignified working conditions.
In 2022, Donavan was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the poorest district in the state.Rejecting performative politics, he immediately established a reputation as a legislative force for working-class families—delivering more than $10 million to launch Michigan’s first-in-the-nation statewide community violence intervention program, expanding funding for public schools, and securing resources to replace toxic lead pipes. Now, backed by a powerful coalition including U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, Donavan is running for Congress to unseat a self-funding millionaire incumbent, aiming to replace billionaire-driven political theater with authentic, working-class representation.
How he’ll help your community:
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Housing Stability and Eviction Defense: Having survived 13 evictions as a child, Donavan knows the heavy toll of housing insecurity. In Congress, he will fight for federal tenant protections, affordable housing construction, and resources to prevent families from being displaced by predatory landlords.
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Reining in Corporate Monopolies: Donavan believes monopoly corporations are price-gouging working families.In the State House, he fought to hold utility giant DTE accountable by pushing to increase the credits paid to consumers during prolonged power outages, a fight he will bring to Washington.
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Environmental Justice and Clean Air: Growing up in the shadow of Detroit’s factories, Donavan and his family developed chronic asthmatic coughs. A former member of Michigan’s Environmental Justice Council, he will battle corporate polluters to ensure every child has clean air to breathe and untainted water to drink.
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Investing in Public Safety and Schools: Donavan believes in treating the root causes of community crises. He will champion federal funding for community-led gun violence intervention programs, robust public transit infrastructure, and free universal pre-K for every child.
His position on key issues
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Healthcare for All: Grounded in his roots as an SEIU healthcare organizer, Donavan treats medical care as a fundamental human right. He strongly supports Medicare for All and legislation to cap skyrocketing prescription drug and medical procedure prices.
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Ending Corporate Influence: Donavan refuses to let wealthy oligarchs buy seats in Congress. In Michigan, he co-sponsored a legislative package to ban political contributions from monopoly utilities and major state contractors, and he completely rejects corporate PAC money in his federal campaign.
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Dignity for Labor and Unions: Donavan believes that a strong economy is built from the bottom up. He advocates for strengthening union organizing rights nationwide, expanding worker protections, and raising the federal minimum wage to a thriving, livable standard.
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Foreign Policy Centered on Peace: Grounded in human rights, Donavan believes taxpayer dollars should be invested in domestic care infrastructure rather than endless foreign conflict. He has been a vocal proponent of advancing lasting diplomatic ceasefires abroad.
To learn more about Donavan, visit his website: https://www.donavanforcongress.com/