The abandoned houses have holes in their façades, the vacant lots are overgrown and many streets are bumpy. Michigan’s 13th congressional district in northern Detroit is home to nearly 800,000 Americans and is one of the poorest in the country. Here, state politician Donovan McKinney made headlines when he defeated incumbent Representative Shri Thanedar in the summer primary.
"I spoke openly about poverty, about working people struggling with skyrocketing costs for food, gas and childcare," McKinney says, explaining his victory.
The average income here is $14,000 (equivalent to 140,000 SEK) a year. It’s almost impossible to live on.
“Corrupt” system
McKinney sweeps into Commons, a combined laundromat and café. He has an advantage in the polls, the campaign is intense and several people on the street want to greet him. But at the table, over a glass of juice, he gets serious.
"People here think the politicians and the system are corrupt. Both Republicans and Democrats have failed us," he says.
We must remove the influence of big business over politics. And we must hold Donald Trump accountable for what is happening in this country.
A tsunami?
McKinney is a Democrat, but he is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). DSA members already sit in Congress, the most famous being Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders, but this year has seen a historically high number of members win primaries. The media is talking about a “tsunami,” with the entire Democratic Party moving to the left.
"Voters are fighting for their survival. That means they are looking for new types of politicians – ones with clear messages, clear policies," says Lila Bickner, one of two co-chairs of the DSA’s Detroit chapter, about the successes.
Bickner welcomes visitors to the DSA’s new headquarters, a former retail space in southwest Detroit. It’s filled with brochures, campaign posters and foil balloons shaped like red roses, the socialist symbol. There’s a certain anticipation in the air, she notes, as the organization has never received as much attention as it does now.
We believe in redistributing resources to programs that actually help people and society. I want to see an America where the working class can live in dignity,” she says when asked to summarize the DSA’s message.
For me personally, universal healthcare is important.
Taking a stand against ICE
For many Swedes, it is relatively easy to understand the arguments for affordable childcare, universal healthcare and free higher education. However, in its national platform, the DSA also takes a position on other issues. Among other things, it argues for a Palestinian state, for the US Department of War (Department of Defense) to be shut down and for the Senate to be abolished in favor of a unicameral Congress – proposals that are controversial within both the Republican and Democratic parties. The DSA also believes that the immigration police ICE should be shut down and undocumented immigrants should be given amnesty.
People don’t want to see their neighbors thrown into modern-day concentration camps. Here in Detroit, people are being arrested while sitting in their cars – and children are being left alone in the back seat. It’s all inhumane, Bickner claims, adding that ICE has wrongfully detained several American citizens.
Arresting and deporting people who are in the United States illegally was one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent campaign promises. ICE’s sometimes brutal raids are divisive and have led to widespread protests.
Bickner says she believes there should be a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Does that also apply to criminals?
We should follow the laws and give everyone a fair trial, she replies.
Trump warns
The DSA platform has caused many within the Republican Party to see red. President Trump repeatedly attacks DSA candidates, claiming that they are not socialists but communists and lunatics. He has also warned that communism is “the greatest threat to the United States ever.”
At the Republicans’ local headquarters in Oakland County, north of Detroit, most volunteers agree with him.
"To me, socialism and communism are the same thing," says retired auto worker and former Marine Larry Mareinkowski.
It scares me, I don’t want it in our country.
His colleague, retiree Cara McAlister, is busy distributing campaign materials for local candidates. During a break, she says that the DSA wave is dangerous.
They want open prisons and open borders. If they take over, we will go bankrupt.
New correctional services?
Donovan McKinney, who has worked in Michigan’s correctional system and has strong views on issues such as prisons, dismisses the claims. The DSA’s platform states that the police force should be "demilitarized" and eventually dismantled, and that prisons should be closed down and replaced with community service and care.
We spend enormous amounts of tax money on – what, McKinney asks rhetorically.
Are we rehabilitating people or are we just locking them up without results?
Most people who go to prison will eventually be released, and the question is how tax dollars are used to ensure that they become productive citizens, McKinney argues. He advocates community service, treatment and job training, with the goal of keeping criminals from falling back into crime.
But how does he view dangerous violent criminals like serial killers?
The courts have to deal with such cases. But even now, the state allows mass murderers to work in kitchens, for example, in places like Mississippi and Kentucky.
Everyday life in focus
At the DSA office, Lila Bickner, who works for a tech company, emphasizes that the plans for the police and the Senate are far into the future. The focus now is on improving everyday life in a US where food and fuel prices are painfully high.
The Republicans are trying to whip up the “red peril.” But when I knock on doors, I get mostly positive responses; people are less afraid of the word “socialism” and increasingly interested in our ideas.
Facts: Democratic Socialists in the US Election
About a dozen members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have won their primaries for this year’s midterm elections to Congress. That’s more than in recent years. In addition, DSA candidates in the major cities of Washington, DC, and Los Angeles are hoping to follow in the footsteps of New York Mayor Zorhan Mamdani and win mayoral elections in their cities.
Among the House of Representatives candidates who are DSA members are:
From Colorado: Melat Kiros
From California: Angela Gonzales-Torres and Mai Vang
From Michigan: Rashida Tlaib and Donavan McKinney
From New York: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez.
From Pennsylvania: Christopher Rabb
The Senate has had a DSA member, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, since 2007, and he is not up for re-election this year. In Ohio, independent DSA candidate Gregory Levy is running in the Senate special election. The seat was previously held by Vice President JD Vance and then by Republican Jon Husted.
Source: Ballotpedia, candidates’ websites, American media
