Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips announced Thursday night that he would be launching a long-shot Democratic primary challenge to President Joe Biden.
“I am. I have to,” Phillips said when asked by CBS News if he was running for president. “I think President Biden has done a spectacular job for our country, but it’s not about the past. This is an election about the future. I will not sit still, I will not be quiet in the face of numbers that are so clearly saying that we’re going to be facing an emergency next November.”
Phillips, 54, made the announcement in a pre-taped interview with CBS that was set to air on Friday, the same day that he is expected to file to appear on the ballot for the still-unscheduled New Hampshire primary in January. Biden, 80, will not be filing to be on the ballot because the state did not comply with the calendar adopted by the Democratic National Committee that took away New Hampshire’s status as the first state to have a primary.
Phillips also filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday.
Nevertheless, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said Tuesday that Biden would still prevail because a Biden write-in effort is expected.
“The reality is that Joe Biden will win the New Hampshire First-in-the-Nation Primary in January, win renomination in Chicago and will be re-elected next November,” Buckley said in a statement. “New Hampshire voters know and trust Joe Biden, that’s why he is leading [former President Donald] Trump in New Hampshire by double digits.”
Phillips, a third-term House member with no prior experience in elected office, resigned his leadership position as a Democratic Policy and Communications Committee co-chair at the beginning of October, saying at the time his “convictions relative to the 2024 presidential race are incongruent with the majority of my caucus.”
Before getting into politics, Phillips ran his family’s large distilling business. He also was an early investor and co-owner of the popular gelato company Talenti, which was eventually sold to Unilever.
On Capitol Hill, Phillips has been a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, and he was on the House Select Modernization of Congress Committee. He currently holds seats on both then Foreign Affairs and Small Business panels.
Phillips has said for months that he was hoping Biden would face a primary challenge from a Democratic governor from the heartland. In an Aug. 13 interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, the names cited included Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“As a Democrat, I adore Joe Biden. He saved this country. He can cement his legacy. My real call to action right now – it’s not about me. The call to action is to ask the president to pass the torch,” Phillips said in that NBC interview. “There is an extraordinary bench, extraordinary bench of people ready to go … prepared for the position.”
While those governors may have future presidential ambitions, all have been actively supporting the Biden’s reelection campaign, and Phillips’ position is a clear outlier among elected Democrats.
Phillips earned his bachelor’s degree in urban studies from Brown University in 1991. While in college, he interned for then Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt.
Discouraged by his father from joining the family liquor business right away, Phillips joined a cycling equipment startup. He did eventually get involved in Phillips Distilling Company, rising to CEO in the early 2000s. He was the fifth member of his family to lead the company, which his great-great-grandfather founded in 1912.
Aside from the distilling business, Phillips’ family had ties to the media business. His grandmother was actually the newspaper advice columnist for “Dear Abby.”
Phillips first came to Congress after he flipped Minnesota’s 3rd District in 2018, defeating five-term incumbent, Republican Erik Paulsen, who couldn’t overcome his party affiliation with Trump.
Eleanor Van Buren contributed to this report.
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