Dean Phillips runs for president

A Minnesotan is running against Joe Biden for president of the United States.

Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman, announced his bid for president on Oct. 26. Phillips represents the third district of Minnesota in the House of Representatives, covering cities like Bloomington, Edina, Minnetonka and Wayzata.

Dean Phillips and his family have a deep connection to CSB+SJU. His great-grandfather, Jay Phillips, established the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at CSB+SJU. Phillips has a history of hiring both Bennies and Johnnies. CSB senior Clair Moonen and SJU senior Cullen McMahon interned in his Washington D.C. office over the summer but declined to comment.

Rumors of Phillips’s presidential bid first surfaced in late July.

Phillips, age 54, cites Biden’s age as his primary reason for joining the race, stating that it was “time for a new generation” in the Oval Office. Biden, who is running for re-election in the 2024 race, will be 82 years old on election day.

Voters have expressed concerns over Biden’s age in recent months. According to an Associated Press National Opinion Research Center poll, 77% of Americans believe that Biden is too old to effectively serve. Outside of age, Biden and Phillips agree on many policy issues.

“Phillips’s policy disagreement with Biden is really quite small. He hasn’t articulated anything specific, outside of his discomfort with Biden’s age,” political science Professor Claire Haeg said. “Since taking office, one of the first things he said was that he wanted a change in leadership to include younger members of the Democratic party. It’s consistently been part of his stance.”

He joins the ranks of two other Biden challengers, including Marianne Williamson and Cenk Uygur. Williamson is a self-help author and former spiritual advisor to Oprah Winfrey, and Uygur is a progressive talk-show host. There are nine Republicans in the race thus far, including former President Donald Trump.

If history has anything to say, Phillips has a significant challenge ahead of him.

“The last member to run straight from the House to president was over a century ago, so it’s unlikely that he would be successful historically,” Haeg said.

Presidental incumbents like Biden rarely face primary challengers with significant name recognition while running for re-election.

The last time a primary challenger was close to being successful against an incumbent was in 1976, when then California Governor Ronald Reagan almost out-competed unpopular incumbent President Gerald R. Ford.

Phillips’s campaign advisor stated in a Guardian article that Phillips plans to run in the New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina primaries and reassess the future of the campaign from there.

Challenging Biden comes at a cost – both in party support and resources. Phillips’s long-shot race may come across as harmful to the party.

“My sources inside Congress say that he is getting a lot of entrenched pushbacks from within Congress,” Haeg said. “The Democratic members of Congress aren’t happy.”

Evan Mattson, SJU senior and political science major, has been following the 2024 election. Mattson emphasized that Phillips’s choice to run against an incumbent is an unexpected choice.

“It could give him some name recognition, but it just depends on how much of it is positive. Any press is good press for Phillips right now,” Mattson said. “It might make him a more serious candidate in the future, but going against what the Democratic party stands for is a pretty bold move.”

Biden has already received the Democratic endorsement, giving him significant party support and funding.

“I think Phillips will have a battle of name recognition. Biden has the party endorsement,” Mattson said. “Who’s going to get all the media attention, who’s going to have the social media, the flyers, the apparel? It’s Biden. He has that incumbent advantage, ever so slightly.”

Phillips served as CEO of his family’s multi-million-dollar business, Phillips Distilling Company, before joining Talenti Gelato. According to Politico, his net worth is approximately $124 million, making him one of the wealthiest members of the House of Representatives.

“Dean Phillips doesn’t have a huge amount of support from the Democratic party, and that support translates to organizational support and money,” Haeg said. “To what extent can he encourage major donors to support his campaign? It doesn’t look likely right now. He has his own personal wealth, but that doesn’t translate to enough money to run a successful primary campaign.”

Outside party support and funding, name recognition will be Phillips’s biggest hurdle.

“I really don’t think that Phillips has any shot, but I’m intrigued by his campaign. I’m curious to see how the younger generation reacts,” Mattson said. “Is this going to mobilize voters? We’ve all said that he doesn’t have the name recognition, but we’re biased because we’re from Minnesota. We’ve heard about Dean Phillips, especially with how close his district is to us.”

New Hampshire state law requires that it holds the first presidential primary. The New Hampshire Secretary of State has yet to set a date.