Ian Conyers

Ian Conyers was a Democratic candidate who sought election to Michigan's 13th Congressional District for the 2019-2020 term. He was also a Democratic candidate who sought to fill Michigan's 13th District for the rest of the 2017-2018 term to which John Conyers Jr. (D) was elected in November 2016.

Conyers ran in the concurrent Democratic primaries for the 2019-2020 term and the rest of the 2017-2018 term on August 7, 2018. The general election for the 2019-2020 term and the special election for the rest of the 2017-2018 term were both on November 6, 2018.

Conyers is a former Democratic member of the Michigan State Senate, representing District 4 from 2017 to 2018.

Biography

Prior to serving in the state Senate, Conyers worked on the Anacostia waterfront redevelopment project in Washington, D.C. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Georgetown University.^[1]

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Michigan committee assignments, 2017
• Banking & Financial Institutions
• Economic Development and International Investment
• Energy and Technology
• Transportation

Elections

2018 general election

General election

General election for U.S. House Michigan District 13

Rashida Tlaib defeated Sam Johnson and D. Etta Wilcoxon in the general election for U.S. House Michigan District 13 on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Rashida Tlaib (D)	84.2	165,355
	Sam Johnson (Working Class Party)	11.3	22,186
	D. Etta Wilcoxon (G)	4.1	7,980
	Other/Write-in votes	0.4	778

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 196,299
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

John Conyers III (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 13

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Michigan District 13 on August 7, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Rashida Tlaib	31.2	27,841
	Brenda Jones	30.2	26,941
	Bill Wild	14.1	12,613
	Coleman Young II	12.5	11,172
	Ian Conyers	6.6	5,861
	Shanelle Jackson	5.4	4,853

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 89,281
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

No Republican candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

David Dudenhoefer (R)

Democratic primary overview

Voters in Michigan's 13th Congressional District chose a new U.S. representative for the first time since 1964 after longtime incumbent John Conyers Jr. (D), a figure in the Civil Rights Movement and Congressional Black Caucus co-founder, resigned over sexual harassment allegations in December 2017.^[2]

Two Democratic primaries were held on August 7. One selected the Democratic nominee for the 2019-2020 term and the other selected the nominee for the special election to fill the final months of the 2017-2018 term to which Conyers was elected.

The four leading Democratic candidates in both primaries were Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Westland Mayor Bill Wild, and state Sen. Ian Conyers—the great nephew of John Conyers Jr. The Detroit-based seat was a majority-minority district. Conyers and Jones were both black, while Tlaib was of Palestinian descent and Wild was white.

Rashida Tlaib won the regularly-scheduled Democratic primary to compete in the November 6, 2018, election for the 2019-2020 term. Brenda Jones won the special Democratic primary to compete in the November 6, 2018, special election for the rest of the 2017-2018 term to which Conyers was elected. No Republican filed for either general election.

In March, a 30-member group of Detroit influencers and Democratic Party activists decided to unify their efforts behind Jones. Jonathan Kinloch, the chairman of the 13th District Democratic Party, said the group's goal was to keep the seat in the hands of a black Detroiter and maintain the strength of the Congressional Black Caucus.^[3]^[4]

Tlaib raised more money than all other candidates and was supported by U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and the Bernie Sanders-aligned Justice Democrats. She touted her support for Medicare for All and her pledge to vote for Donald Trump's impeachment.^[5]

According to the Daily Kos, Wild, also a supporter of Medicare for All, could have won a narrow plurality by turning out progressive white voters in Westland. He only trailed Tlaib in fundraising.^[6]

Ian Conyers, the youngest state senator in Michigan history, emphasized his desire to carry on his great-uncle's legacy.^[7] However, the elder Conyers endorsed his son, John Conyers III, after Ian preemptively told media outlets his great-uncle would resign over the sexual harassment allegations.^[2] Conyers III did not collect enough petition signatures to make the ballot.^[8]

Because the 13th District is reliably Democratic and no Republican filed, the winner of this primary won the general election in November.

Endorsements

Click here to see a list of endorsements in the Democratic primary

Ballotpedia tracks endorsements by organizations and elected officials. To notify us of other endorsements, please email us.

Democratic primary endorsements
Endorsement	Date	Ian Conyers	John Conyers III	Jones	Tlaib	Wild	Young
Individuals
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez^[9]	July 30, 2018			✔
Mike Duggan, mayor of Detroit^[10]	February 5, 2018			✔
John Conyers Jr., former District 13 representative^[11]	December 5, 2017		✔
Muriel Bowser, mayor of Washington, D.C.^[3]	Unknown	✔
U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.)^[12]	Unknown			✔
Warren Evans, Wayne County Executive^[12]	Unknown			✔
James Tate, Detroit City Council^[12]	Unknown			✔
State Rep. Sylvia Santana^[12]	Unknown			✔
Bishop P.A. Brooks^[12]	Unknown			✔
Bishop J.H. Sheard^[12]	Unknown			✔
Reverend Ronald Griffin^[12]	Unknown			✔
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.)^[13]	Unknown				✔
State Rep. Stephanie Chang^[13]	Unknown				✔
Ilona Varga, Wayne County Commissioner^[13]	Unknown				✔
Michael Moore, filmmaker^[13]	Unknown				✔
Organizations
Michigan Chronicle^[14]	August 2, 2018			✔
The Detroit Free Press^[15]	July 29, 2018				✔
The Detroit News^[16]	July 12, 2018	✔
Detroit Regional Chamber^[17]	June 28, 2018	✔
Michigan AFL-CIO^[18]	June 18, 2018			✔
United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 876^[19]	May 3, 2018				✔
United Automobile Workers International Union^[12]	Unknown			✔
Communications Workers of America, District 4^[12]	Unknown			✔
American Federation of Teachers-Michigan^[12]	Unknown			✔
Detroit Police Officers Association^[12]	Unknown			✔
Michigan Association of Police Officers^[12]	Unknown			✔
Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights^[12]	Unknown			✔
Michigan Building Trades Council^[12]	Unknown			✔
Operating Engineers Local 324^[12]	Unknown			✔
Justice Democrats^[13]	Unknown				✔
Democracy for America^[13]	Unknown				✔
Our Revolution^[20]	Unknown				✔
Progressive Change Campaign Committee^[13]	Unknown				✔
Arab American Democratic Action Fund^[13]	Unknown				✔

Campaign finance

This chart contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission for the special election.

This chart contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission for the regular election.

2018 special election

See also: Michigan's 13th Congressional District special election, 2018

See also: Michigan's 13th Congressional District special election (August 7, 2018 Democratic primary)

See also: Michigan's 13th Congressional District special election (August 7, 2018 Republican primary)

This election was held to replace John Conyers Jr. (D). On December 5, 2017, Conyers announced his resignation from office, effective immediately. The announcement came amid sexual harassment allegations and calls for Conyers' resignation from the Democratic leadership.^[21] The winner completed the rest of the 2017-2018 term to which Conyers was elected.

David Dudenhoefer, Royce Kinniebrew, Clyde Darnell Lynch, Danetta Simpson, and Jonathan Pommerville ran as write-in candidates in the general election. David Dudenhoefer ran as a write-in candidate in the Republican primary, but he did not receive enough votes to advance to the general election.^[22]