Detroit City Councilwoman Mary Waters is running in the Democratic primary election for Michigan’s 13th U.S. House District seat, which represents parts of Detroit, Hamtramck, Romulus, Allen Park, Grosse Pointe and more.

Voters elected Waters to the Detroit City Council as one of two at-large members in 2021, where she has since helped pass a city Ceasefire Resolution, form the Tenant’s Rights Commission and secure $203 million in federal assistance for housing in the city.

“I have continued to fight for our community, standing against massive tax breaks to billionaire developers, investing in creating pathways for Detroiters to access safe, affordable housing and transforming our economy through piloting a Universal Basic Income program in Detroit,” Waters said.

She served three terms in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2001-2006. She was Michigan’s first African American female minority floor leader from 2003-2006. 

During her time in the House, Waters said she helped establish Michigan’s AMBER Alert system, create opportunities for incarcerated people to earn their GED or high school diploma, protect schools, fund local fire departments and secure state funding to improve water quality.

I will fight against any aid to Israel while this massacre of civilians in Gaza continues and (will) work to reallocate Israeli military aid into civilian aid programs for Palestinians. I will fight for a humanitarian resolve as I fight for any issue that helps our community: With passion, respect and focus. – Mary Waters

“I first ran for office to clean up my neighborhood, fix our schools and ensure that my neighbors had a fair chance to get a good, quality job,” she said. “I got to Lansing and soon saw that the powers-that-be were resistant to the change our community needed. Despite the intense pressure, I never backed down and fought for our schools as the Republicans were driving them into bankruptcy, fought for our residents to be treated fairly by auto insurance companies and fought for our environment as corporations were pushing clean-up costs on taxpayers.”

Waters said she would take her city-level pro-Palestine activism with the Detroit ceasefire resolution to the national level. 

“I will work with my colleagues to publicly call for an end to the conflict,” Waters said. “I will continue to advocate for Unity and Peace within the region…I will fight for a humanitarian resolve as I fight for any issue that helps our community: With passion, respect and focus.”

Democratic Congressional candidate Mary Waters during her meeting with Arab American leaders at The Arab American News offices in Dearborn on Monday, July 1. – Photo by The Arab American News

Waters said the issue is important to District 13.

“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  taught us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” she said. “Our community has always been one to fight for justice: Justice for people of color, justice for our LGBTQ+ members, justice for all of those who wake up every day in poverty. When we see the same, and even worse, injustices being perpetrated against other Black and Brown people, and done partially with U.S. taxpayer money, it is our responsibility to stand up to it. Our district feels that, and I will carry that commitment to fight injustice all the way to Congress.”

Waters met with Arab American community members and leaders earlier this week. She received the endorsement of the Arab American and Muslim PAC, and will be most likely on the influential Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) list of endorsements before July 15.

“I look forward to a healthy working relationship in the future,” she said. “I will maintain an open-door policy and hope we can work together to identify the necessary resources to improve our district. It has been neglected.”

Thanedar was one of 42 Democratic members of the U.S. Congress who joined Republicans majority House lawmakers and voted 247-155 in favor of H.R. 8282, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. Forty-two pro-Israel Democrats joined all but two Republicans who voted “present” in approving the bill, which was sponsored by far-right Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

Waters’ other goals if elected include working to end the Trump tax cuts, legislatively reforming the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s formula for calculating area median income, addressing the student loan debt crisis, expanding access to Medicare, enshrining reproductive freedom into federal law and passing the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act.

“In these turbulent times, we need an experienced, community-focused representative in Congress, one who will stand up for us, no matter what,” she said. “The leadership I have brought to the community over my decades of service shows that I am the right person to represent our district in the U.S. House of Representatives.”

Waters is running against incumbent first-term U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar and attorney Shakira Hawkins in Michigan’s Democratic primary election on Aug. 6. Martell Bivings is the only Republican candidate in the running. Applications for absentee voter forms are currently available. Voters can find early voting times and locations for their district at www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/early-in-person-voting.

Rep. Thanedar was one of 42 Democratic members of the U.S. Congress who joined majority Republican House lawmakers and voted 247-155 in favor of H.R. 8282, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act. Forty-two pro-Israel Democrats joined all but two Republicans who voted “present” in approving the bill, which was sponsored by far-right Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas). The only two Democratic House members from Michigan who voted for the bill were Shri Thanedar and Elissa Slotkin.

Polls open on August 6 at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. You may check with the city clerk of your city of residence for early voting times, days and places.