Minnesota congressman announces primary challenge to Biden, saying Democrats must focus on future

CONCORD, N.H. —  For months, Dean Phillips called for a Democratic primary challenge to President Biden, drawing no public interest from governors, lawmakers and other potential alternatives.

The Minnesota congressman finally entered the race himself Friday, announcing outside the New Hampshire State House: “It is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of American leaders.”

Phillips, 54, is highly unlikely to beat Biden. Still, his run offers 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 voters question whether the 80-year-old Biden should serve another term.

Phillips said in his speech that he’d try to fix the economy, and warned about high prices and “the chaos at our border” — issues that could be vulnerabilities for Biden in what could be a rematch against former President Trump.

With many New Hampshire Democrats angry at Biden for diluting their state’s influence on the 2024 Democratic primary calendar, Phillips noted the state had historically been “first to vet presidential candidates” like himself.

Biden has long cast himself as uniquely qualified to beat Trump again, and top Democrats have lined up behind him, even as some position themselves for future primary runs.

His reelection campaign said in a statement Friday that it was “hard at work mobilizing the winning coalition that President Biden can uniquely bring together” to beat Trump.

Though Biden won’t officially run in New Hampshire’s primary and will rely on a write-in campaign, he plans to head next week to Phillips’ home state for an official event and fundraiser.

Phillips has missed the deadline to enter Nevada’s primary and is little-known nationally. His campaign’s account on X, formerly Twitter, was briefly suspended Friday before his launch. And shortly before he spoke, the leader of his own state signed a fundraising pitch sent by Biden’s campaign.

“It’s a great state, full of great people. And sometimes they do crazy things,” wrote Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, adding: “And sometimes … they make political side shows for themselves.”

But New Hampshire primary challenges have a history of hurting incumbents.

In 1968, another Minnesotan, Democratic Sen. Eugene McCarthy, built his campaign around opposing the Vietnam War, and finished second in New Hampshire’s primary, helping push President Lyndon Johnson into forgoing a run for a second term. Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s challenge to President Carter and Pat Buchanan’s run against President George H.W. Bush both failed, but Carter and Bush went on to lose their reelection bids.

The state’s influence on Democrats was curtailed this year by changes engineered by the Democratic National Committee at Biden’s behest.

A new Democratic calendar has South Carolina leading off primary voting on Feb. 3 and Nevada going three days later. New Hampshire has refused to comply, citing state laws saying its primary must be first, and plans a primary before South Carolina’s. The DNC could strip the state of its nominating delegates.

Steve Shurtleff, former speaker of the New Hampshire House, believes that Phillips might appeal to some Democrats and to independents, who can choose to vote in the primary.

“I’m disappointed that [Biden] and the DNC have tried to take away our primary,” 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 to easily clinch the state as a write-in option. He recalled going door to door for McCarthy in 1968, but doesn’t see Phillips gaining traction.

“I’m not aware of what his message is,” he said. “To do well in the New Hampshire primary, you have to have a message.”

There are no Democratic primary debates scheduled. The only other Democrat running is self-help author Marianne Williamson.

Phillips is heir to his stepfather’s Phillips Distilling Co. empire. He once served as company president, and also ran the gelato maker Talenti. His grandmother was the late Pauline Phillips, better known as the advice columnist “Dear Abby.”

Driving a gelato truck was a centerpiece of his first House campaign in 2018, when Phillips unseated five-term Republican Erik Paulsen. His district in mostly affluent greater Minneapolis has become more Democratic-leaning, but Phillips has stressed that he is a moderate focused on his suburban constituents.

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 surveyed said they thought he was too old to be effective for four more years. The respondents most frequently described Trump as “corrupt” and “dishonest.”

Leslie Blanding, a retired teacher and Democrat from Bow, N.H., said she did
not know Phillips but was “thoroughly conflicted” over whether Biden should face a primary challenger.

“I think Biden is too old. I think from the outset, he should’ve been looking to groom someone to succeed him, and he didn’t do that,” said Blanding, 75. “But I think he seems to be the only one positioned to have a strong chance of defeating Trump or whomever.”