Hollier slams Thanedar while announcing plans for a rematch in the 13th Congressional District

Former State Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit) announced on Monday that he would once again seek to represent the state’s 13th congressional district, throwing down the gauntlet against U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit).

In his announcement, Hollier sharply criticized Thanedar, who is serving his second term in Congress. 

“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,” said Hollier. “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.”

Thanedar, who spent $10 million of his own funds seeking the governor’s seat in 2018, served one term in the Michigan Legislature from 2021 through the end of 2022. He was elected to Congress for the first time that year, winning reelection in 2024.

Hollier served in the state Senate from 2018 through the end of 2022. He served as the Director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency from January to October of 2023. Hollier is also a team chief and paratrooper in the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Army Reserve. 

The two previously squared off in the 2022 Democratic primary, with Thanedar receiving 28.3% of the vote and Hollier receiving 23.5% of the vote.

While Hollier sought to unseat Thanedar in 2024, he was disqualified from the primary after Thandedar challenged his petitions to appear on the ballot. In her review, Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett found only 863 of the 1,553 signatures he submitted were valid, leaving Hollier 137 signatures short of the 1,000 needed to qualify for the ballot.

After he was disqualified from the ballot, Hollier said the circulator he’d brought on to collect signatures had let him down, but that as the leadership of the campaign fell to him, he must hold himself to a higher standard.

In announcing his candidacy for 2026, Hollier amplified criticism of Thanedar, pointing to an investigation from the Detroit News which found Thanedar had spent $930,000 in taxpayer funds in 2024 TV, radio, billboards and other advertisements to promote himself as he faced challengers from several other Democrats heading into the primary election last year. 

“It’s absurd. While everyday Michiganders are struggling, Shri Thanedar is spending hundreds of thousands of their hard-earned tax dollars putting up self-portraits of himself all over the district,” Hollier said in a statement. “That’s something only Donald Trump would be proud of.”

Thanedar told the News the ads were unrelated to his reelection campaign  and were intended to generate calls from constituents who need help from the federal government.

On Monday, Thanedar defended his record in a statement to the Michigan Advance. 

“Since my election, we’ve solved over 2800 constituent cases, recovered nearly $3 million for constituents, gotten $30 million approved in community projects, and sponsored and cosponsored 810 different bills. We have world class constituent communication, including a record 11 in-person town halls,” Thanedar said before blasting Hollier for his previous failure to qualify for the ballot.

“Congressional candidates have the simple task of getting 1,000 qualified signatures to get on the ballot. Voters in the 13th District, 30% of whom are at or below poverty, have serious problems they need addressed. They are looking for someone competent and qualified, not someone who will hire his friends and disastrously fail to accomplish simple tasks,” Thanedar said.

In his announcement, Hollier called for aggressive action from the federal and state government to build new affordable housing across the region and crack down on corporations gouging buyers and renters on housing costs. 

He also pledged to fight for investments to lower the costs of childcare and a repeal of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. If elected, Hollier also promised he would work to make it easier for Michiganders to start small businesses and cut taxes on the poor and the middle class.

As one of the two U.S. representatives whose districts encompass Detroit, the race for the 13th District is considered vital for representation of the predominantly Black city. Detroit elected its first Black U.S. representative, Charles Diggs Jr., in 1954, and consistently elected a Black representative up until 2022, when voters elected Thanedar, who immigrated from India, alongside Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who is Palestinian American, to Michigan’s 12th Congressional District. 

While Hollier, who is Black, did not make the ballot in 2024, Thanedar’s Democratic challengers included Lawyer Shakira Lynn Hawkins and Detroit City Council Member Mary Waters who are both African American. Republican Martell Bivings, who faced off against Thanedar in 2022 and 2024, is also Black.