Representative Dean Phillips announced his presidential bid on Friday, October 27, and became the first elected Democrat to challenge Biden for nomination. The 54-year-old Minnesota congressman told a Friday event outside New Hampshire's statehouse, "I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States of America."
Phillips, one of Congress's wealthiest members, has been effusive in his praise for Biden but also says their party needs younger voices to avoid a nightmare scenario where Donald Trump is reelected next fall.
While Phillips is highly unlikely to beat Biden, a run would offer a symbolic challenge to national Democrats trying to project the idea that there is no reason to doubt the president's electability — even as many Americans question whether the 80-year-old Biden should serve another term.
In a campaign video posted online, Phillips promises to traipse through the snow to greet voters and "fix the economy," a swipe at Biden who has made job and Gross Domestic Product growth a key of a reelection bid built around the slogan "Bidenomics." Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden's reelection campaign said the president "is proud of the historic, unified support he has from across the Democratic Party for his reelection."
"The stakes of next year’s election could not be higher for the American people, and the campaign is hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together to once again beat the MAGA Republicans next November," Munoz said, referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement.
Phillips has already missed the deadline to enter Nevada’s primary and is little known nationally. Still, he argues Biden may not be able to beat Trump again, telling CBS News in an interview that aired Friday that polling suggests "we're going to be facing an emergency next November." "I think it’s time for a new generation," he said. "I think it’s time to pass the torch."
There are no primary debates scheduled, according to the DNC. The only other Democrat running in the 2024 primary is self-help author Marianne Williamson. Anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr. announced this month that he’s running as an independent.
Phillips is heir to his stepfather’s Phillips Distilling Company empire, which holds major vodka and schnapps brands. He won his first House campaign in 2018, when Phillips unseated five-term Republican Erik Paulsen. He is a member of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress.
Phillips has been suggesting since the summer that top Democrats challenge Biden. He told CBS that he hoped his announcement would encourage other primary challengers saying of competition: "We need it." Challenging his party's leadership isn't new for Phillips. When he first got to Congress, he spoke of the need for a "new generation" of Democrats to replace then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and was frustrated when no one emerged. He later praised Pelosi as "one of the most successful speakers of all time."
Still, he's not the only one voicing concerns now. An AP-NORC poll released in August found that the top words associated with Biden were "old" and "confused." Nearly 70% of Democrats and 77% of U.S. adults said they thought Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. The same poll found that respondents most frequently described Trump as "corrupt" and "dishonest."