Shri Thanedar Bio
Shrinivas Prasad Thanedar, known as Shri Thanedar, is an Indian-born American businessman, author, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district since 2023. Before entering Congress, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023 and was a candidate in the 2018 Democratic primary for Governor of Michigan. He is also a successful entrepreneur in the chemical testing industry.
Before politics, Thanedar built and led chemical testing and laboratory services companies, including Chemir and Avomeen, earning multiple regional Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards. He emigrated from Karnataka, India, to pursue doctoral studies in the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1988. He has written two autobiographies that recount his journey from a low-income childhood in India to his career in American business and public life.
Early Life and Background
Early Life and Background
Shrinivas Prasad Thanedar was born on February 22, 1955, in Chikkodi, a town in the Belgaum region of Karnataka, India. He grew up in a low-income Marathi family. His early years in a modest household shaped his drive to pursue higher education and a professional career abroad.
Thanedar earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Karnatak University and later completed a master’s program at the University of Mumbai. In 1979, he moved to the United States to pursue a PhD at the University of Akron, which he completed in 1982. He then carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan before settling into a career in the American chemical industry.
Path to US Politics
Path to US Politics
Thanedar’s path to politics began later in life, after he had already built and sold successful laboratory businesses. He first stepped into public political life in 2017, when he submitted paperwork to raise funds for a potential campaign for Governor of Michigan. His platform emphasized a $15 minimum wage, public education reform, infrastructure improvements, and increased government transparency.
He officially announced his candidacy for the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary on June 8, 2017, pledging not to accept corporate political action committee donations. He contributed $10.6 million of his own money to the campaign. Thanedar had previously co-sponsored a resolution in the Michigan House to halt aid to Israel, which later became a point of discussion in his congressional race. He became a U.S. citizen in 1988 and joined the Democratic Socialists of America before renouncing his membership in October 2023.
Shri Thanedar Career
Early Career (1984–2010)
Thanedar began his American business career in 1984 at Petrolite in St. Louis. In 1990, he took a night and weekend job at Chemir/Polytech Laboratories for $15 an hour to learn the laboratory business. In 1991, he took out a loan and purchased Chemir for $75,000. First-year sales reached $150,000 with three employees, and by 2005, Chemir posted $16 million in revenue and employed 160 people, including 40 PhD chemists.
He expanded through acquisitions, borrowing $24 million from Bank of America to finance seven deals, including Azopharma, which grew from $1 million in revenue in 2003 to $55 million in 2008. By 2008, his group of companies employed 500 people. In 2007, Thanedar was offered $132 million to sell Azopharma, but the 2007–10 recession caused a 70% revenue drop, leading to bankruptcy proceedings and the closure of the business.
Avomeen Breakthrough (2010–2020)
After briefly retiring in 2010, Thanedar returned to launch Avomeen Analytical Services, an Ann Arbor-based chemical testing laboratory, with his son Neil. Avomeen was named to the INC 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies in 2015 at number 673 and again in 2016 at number 1365.
In 2016, Thanedar sold a majority stake in Avomeen to private equity firm High Street Capital and shared $1.5 million of the proceeds with his 50 employees. He maintained a 40% ownership stake in the business. He was also named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Central Midwest Region in 1999, 2007, and 2016.
Congressional Era (2023–Present)
Thanedar was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 to represent Michigan’s 13th congressional district, winning the open Democratic primary with 28.3% of the vote and defeating Republican nominee Martell Bivings in the general election with 71.1% of the vote. He contributed $5.17 million of his own money to the campaign and moved from Ann Arbor to the Palmer Woods neighborhood in Detroit.
In 2024, he won renomination with 54.9% of the vote in the Democratic primary and won reelection in the general election with 68.6% of the vote, again defeating Martell Bivings. In Congress, he has worked on a range of issues, including introducing the Abolish ICE Act (H.R. 7123) in January 2026, which proposed dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In March 2024, he joined a letter signed by 55 Representatives encouraging the Biden administration to expand plant-based food offerings in federal facilities.
Notable Events and Milestones
On April 29, 2025, Thanedar filed multiple articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, citing charges including usurpation of Congress’s appropriation powers, obstruction of justice, abuse of power, bribery, and corruption. The articles faced intra-party backlash and lacked support from party leadership, leading Thanedar to cancel a vote on May 14, 2025. On December 4, 2025, he introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for murder, conspiracy to murder, and reckless mishandling of classified information.
Shri Thanedar Career Wins
Thanedar has earned notable recognition as an entrepreneur and elected official over the course of his career, including regional business awards and a seat in the United States Congress.
Electoral Wins
Thanedar won the 2020 Democratic primary for Michigan’s 3rd House district on August 4, 2020, and was elected to the state legislature on November 3, 2020, taking office on January 1, 2021. In 2022, he won the open Democratic primary for Michigan’s 13th congressional district with 28.3% of the vote and the general election with 71.1% of the vote. In 2024, he was renominated with 54.9% of the primary vote and won reelection with 68.6% of the general vote.
Other Wins and Achievements
Thanedar was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Central Midwest Region in 1999, 2007, and 2016, recognizing his leadership at Chemir and Avomeen. In 2018, he won the City of Detroit in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, finishing third statewide with 200,645 votes, or 17.7% of the total.
Shri Thanedar Family
Family Background and Personal Life
Thanedar grew up in a low-income Marathi family in Belgaum, Karnataka, India. In 1984, he married his first wife, Shamal, and the couple had two sons: Neil, born in 1988, and Samir, born in 1992. Shamal died by suicide in 1996, a story Thanedar revealed in his 2004 memoir. In 1999, he married his current wife, Shashi. He is an adherent of Hinduism.
In 2024, Thanedar produced, funded, and acted in a short film titled Dear Pra, which recounts Shamal’s secret struggle with depression. The film was created to raise awareness about mental health issues and to address the stigma often found in South Asian communities.