Indian American and Member of ‘Hindu Caucus’ Shri Thanedar Re-elected to U.S. Congress

Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit was elected to a second term. The Belgaum-born 67-year-old entrepreneur and self-made millionaire defeated Republican Martell Bivings in the overwhelmingly Democratic 13th District. 

This is the second time that Thanedar has faced Bivings, who lost to Thanedar by a wide margin in 2022. That win was significant given that he was the first non-Black representative in over 70 years from the newly redrawn 13th District which is now 45 percent Black. It covers most of Detroit, Hamtramck, Grosse Pointe, and the Downriver communities. He occupies the seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Southfield, who retired at the end of her term. 

The district has hardly any Indian American presence. There is a small Bangladeshi community in Hamtramck, but about 45 percent of the constituents are African American, 40 percent White, and approximately seven or eight percent Hispanic. 

When Thanedar ran for governor in 2018, he won the city of Detroit in the gubernatorial primary, which is about 78 percent African American. He beat the other two Democratic candidates — one of them being Gretchen Whitmer, who eventually became the governor of the state. That’s the first time he realized he had” a huge support among the African American community,” he told American Kahani during a previous interview.  This support continued and strengthened during his Congressional bid as well. 

In the August primary, Thanedar fended off a challenge from Detroit City Council member Mary Waters and former Detroit city employee Shakira Hawkins, winning the Democratic primary with about 55% of the vote.

Last September, Thanedar launched the ‘Hindu Caucus’ in the U.S. Congress to bring like-minded lawmakers under one umbrella to eliminate hate and bigotry against Hindus in the country. He also renounced his membership in the Democratic Socialists of America, citing his support for Israel in an ongoing war with Hamas. A former aide later accused Thanedar of leaning on congressional staff for campaign work, which the congressman’s chief of staff denied. 

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Thanedar came to the U.S. in 1979 and got his Ph.D. in chemistry and an MBA. He took out loans to buy a company he worked for, Chemir, and built it from a $150,000 company to one with a revenue of $14 million before selling it for $26 million. He next started Avomeen Analytical Services, a chemical testing laboratory.

He sold the majority stakes in it in 2016 and, according to his campaign bio, retired to get involved in public service to answer “the call to fight for social, racial and economic justice.” He has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Akron, a post-doctoral degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s in business administration from Fontbonne University, a private, non-profit four-year institution in Missouri. He and is wife Shashi live close to their two boys and their grandchild

Thanedar joins his Indian American colleagues in the House — Reps. Ro Khanna, Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Pramila Jayapal — who have sailed through their re-election bid. The 119th Congress will also include Suhas Subramanyam who won a seat in the U.S. Congress in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.