Dean Phillips has been calling for a Democratic primary challenge to President Joe Biden for months. He has failed to attract public interest from governors, legislators and other so-called alternatives.
The Minnesota congressman is finally entering the race himself.
The three-term Minnesota congressman is finally entering the race himself, telling a Friday event outside the New Hampshire statehouse: “I am today announcing my candidacy for president of the United States of America.”
Mr. Phillips, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, has been effusive in his praise for Mr. Biden but also says their party needs younger votes to avoid a nightmare scenario in which Donald Trump is re-elected next fall.
While Mr. Phillips is highly unlikely to defeat Mr. Biden, a run would provide a symbolic challenge to national Democrats who are trying to convey the idea that there is no reason to doubt the president’s electability — even if Many Americans are wondering whether the 80-year-old Mr. Biden should serve another term.
Mr. Phillips could also benefit from New Hampshire Democrats who are angry at Mr. Biden for diluting their state’s influence in the 2024 Democratic primaries, a change that party chairman Ray Buckley has warned would be a “potential shame’ could cause ‘a rebellious candidate’. serious or not.”
In a campaign video posted online, Mr. Phillips vows to trek through the snow to greet voters and “fix the economy,” a swipe at Mr. Biden, who has made job growth and gross domestic product a key has made a re-election bid built around the slogan “Bidenomica.”
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 elections could not be higher for the American people, and the campaign is hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that can uniquely bring President Biden together to take on the MAGA Republicans again next November.” defeat,” said Mr. Munoz. referring to Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ movement.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also reported Mr. Phillips’ voting record earlier this week, saying, “We appreciate the congressman’s nearly 100% support for this president.” And while Biden will not officially participate in the New Hampshire primary and will need a write-in campaign. The president plans to visit Mr.’s home state next week. Phillips for an official event and fundraiser.
The president has long cast himself as uniquely qualified to beat Donald Trump again after his 2020 victory, and top Democrats have lined up behind him while also positioning themselves for a future primary.
Moments before Mr. Phillips even announced it, Tim Walz, the Democratic governor of Minnesota, sent a fundraising campaign email for Minnesota’s re-election entitled “Minnesotans love Joe Biden” and took an indirect swipe at the congressman, writing that some residents of his state sometimes “make political sideshows.” for themselves.”
Mr. Phillips has already missed the deadline to participate in the Nevada primary and is little known nationally. But he argues that Mr. Biden may no longer be able to beat Mr. Trump, telling CBS News that polls show “we will face an emergency in November.”
“I think it’s time for a new generation,” he told the channel. “I think it’s time to pass the torch.”
New Hampshire’s primary challenges have a history of hurting sitting presidents.
In 1968, another Democratic senator from Minnesota, Eugene McCarthy, built his campaign around his opposition to the Vietnam War and finished second in the New Hampshire primary, prompting President Lyndon Johnson to forego a second term. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts’s challenge to President Jimmy Carter and Pat Buchanan’s challenge to President George HW Bush both failed, but Mr. Carter and Mr. Bush ultimately lost their re-election bids.
The state’s influence over Democrats was curtailed this year by changes implemented by the DNC at Mr. Biden’s behest.
According to a new Democratic calendar, South Carolina will start its presidential elections on February 3 and Nevada will start three days later. New Hampshire has refused to comply, citing state laws that say the primaries must take place first, and is planning a primary before South Carolina’s. The DNC, in turn, could strip the status of its nominating delegates.
Steve Shurtleff, a former New Hampshire House speaker who has distanced himself from Mr. Biden, said he has spoken to Mr. Phillips twice and believed the congressman could appeal to some Democrats and independents who may choose to vote in the primaries.
“I love Biden and have a lot of respect for him. But I am disappointed that he and the DNC tried to steal our primaries,” Mr. Shurtleff said. “It’s not that I want to see Joe lose. It’s that I want to see our primary win.”
But Terry Shumaker, a former DNC member from New Hampshire and longtime Biden supporter, said he expects the president will easily consider the state as a write-in option. Mr. Shumaker remembers going door to door for Mr. McCarthy in 1968, but he doesn’t see Mr. Phillips gaining similar traction.
“I don’t know what his message is,” he said. “To do well in the New Hampshire primary, you have to have a message.”
According to the DNC, no primary debates are planned. The only other Democrat running in the 2024 primaries is self-help author Marianne Williamson. Anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced this month that he is running as an independent candidate.
Mr. Phillips is heir to his stepfather’s Phillips Distilling Company empire, which controls major brands of vodka and schnapps. He was once president of that company, but also ran the ice cream maker Talenti. His grandmother was the late Pauline Phillips, better known as the advice columnist “Dear Abby.”
Driving a gelato truck was a key part of his first House campaign in 2018, when Phillips unseated five-term Republican Erik Paulsen. While his district in largely affluent Minneapolis has become more Democratic-leaning, Phillips has emphasized that he is a moderate and focused on his suburban voters. He is a member of the centrist Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress.
Mr. Phillips has been suggesting since the summer that top Democrats challenge Mr. Biden for their party’s nomination, but has been ignored by governors and other top elected officials. He told CBS in the interview Friday that he hoped his announcement would encourage other primary challengers to say competition “we need it.”
Challenging his party’s leadership is not new to Mr. Phillips. When he first entered Congress, he talked about the need for a “new generation” of Democrats to replace then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and was frustrated when no one showed up. He later praised Mrs. Pelosi as “one of the most successful speakers of all time.”
Yet he is not the only one now expressing his concerns. An AP-NORC poll published in August found that the top words associated with Mr. Biden were “old” and “confused.” Nearly 70% of Democrats and 77% of American adults said they thought Biden was too old to be effective for another four years. The same poll found that respondents most often described Mr. Trump as “corrupt” and “dishonest.”
Leslie Blanding, a retired teacher and Democrat from Bow, New Hampshire, said she did not know Mr. Phillips but was “thoroughly conflicted” about whether Mr. Biden should face a primary challenger.
“I think Biden is too old. I think he should have found someone to succeed him from the beginning, and he didn’t do that,” Ms. Blanding said. “But I think he seems to be the only one who has a good chance of beating Trump or anyone else.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press. Will Weissert reported from Washington. AP national political writer Steve Peoples in New York and AP writer Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.