By Melissa Nann Burke
Tribune News Service
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar’s Democratic primary challenger raised more than he did last quarter, as the Detroit congressman’s crypto investments suffered more losses in the last three months of the year.
State Rep. Donavan McKinney, a Detroit Democrat whose district includes part of Warren, reported raising $263,600 toward his bid to oust the two-term Thanedar, while the congressman posted a loss of $1.87 million for the fourth quarter, according to campaign finance filings. Thanedar reported $21,800 in contributions from individual donors.
“I am honored to know our community is also with me in this fight, and just as committed as I am to returning real representation back to our Mighty 13th,” McKinney said in a statement, referring to the 13th Congressional District that covers parts of Detroit, Downriver communities and the Grosse Pointes.
McKinney picked up some significant backers last year, including Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II, and former U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield.
But Thanedar still commands an enormous 16-to-1 money advantage in the contest with nearly $6.4 million cash on hand as of Dec. 31 to McKinney’s $388,500.
“Voters will know that I am leading the charge to protect our democracy,” Thanedar said in a statement, emphasizing his efforts to impeach President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The $1.89 million loss for Thanedar’s campaign is a “drop in the bucket” for the millionaire congressman, said political consultant Mario Morrow.
“He still has his $6 million in the bank for his campaign fund, which is huge. I would still be extremely nervous if I were running against him because of the amount of money he has in his campaign account, and personally, that he could just dump in this race,” Morrow said.
“However, Donovan has shown that he can raise money. It’s just about how he’s going to strategically use these funds to increase his name recognition and work with making Shri Thanedar look like a person who should not be in Congress.”
Morrow credited Thanedar for his messaging on impeachment and his push to “abolish ICE,” referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, saying residents are supportive of the administration pushback.
Another candidate in the race, attorney Maurice Morton, who is running as an independent, reported $27,295 in receipts, including $25,000 that he loaned his campaign.
Thanedar has long said that he hardly spends any time fundraising, preferring instead to personally invest in his campaign so that he can focus on his job in Congress.
The Detroit News first reported on how a millionaire businessman in 2023 took nearly $4 million in cash from his campaign and invested it in a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund, a move that campaign finance experts say is rare and financially risky, though allowed under federal law.
Thanedar has said he got the idea after learning that a few other candidates invest campaign funds, including Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California.
“I’m a risk taker,” Thanedar said last summer after his crypto investments yielded a positive quarter. “This is just an investment decision depending on your risk tolerance. … In the previous quarter, the value of my account went down. The next quarter, this may be up or it may be lower. You never know.”
Investing campaign money is generally legal under federal campaign election regulations, which allow political committees to transfer funds for investment purposes to other accounts. The invested funds just must be returned or transferred to the campaign account before they may be used to make campaign expenditures under Federal Election Commission rules.
Thanedar has said he would cash out when he needs the money for his reelection campaign. In the meantime, a benefit of the crypto investment is that he can skip long hours of calling campaign donors to raise money.
Thanedar said his sons encouraged him to invest in crypto at the Thanksgiving dinner table back in 2017 and he took their advice and did so. He decided to invest some of the money he’d donated to his congressional campaign for the same reason, he said.
“Digital currency is the future,” he said.
