Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips announced Friday that he will not seek reelection to Congress next year as he pursues a long-shot challenge against President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2024.
“[After] three terms it is time to pass the torch,” Phillips said in a statement, echoing the argument for generational change he has called for in his primary bid against Biden.
Phillips formally launched his campaign for the Democratic presidential nod last month in New Hampshire. He told CNN he was compelled to challenge the president – whom he called “terrific” – over his concerns that Biden would lose a general election rematch against former President Donald Trump due to the incumbent’s age and low approval ratings.
He has faced significant intraparty opposition to his candidacy as Democrats seek to unify around the president, fend off spoiler independent candidates and lay out the administration’s accomplishments to voters.
Instead, Phillips has started to take shots at Biden over policy and has criticized the administration’s handling of the Hamas hostages situation.
“[It’s] unacceptable that american citizens remain held by hamas and have not been set free through diplomacy or special forces extraction,” he said Wednesday on social media.
An heir to a Minnesota distilling business and former chairman of Talenti Gelato, Phillips has vowed to invest as much of his multimillion-dollar fortune as it takes to win. The Minnesota Democrat is also backed by a new super PAC, Pass the Torch, which is airing ads in New Hampshire and Washington, DC, highlighting polls showing Biden trailing Trump in key swing states.
The White House reacted to Phillips’ decision to not run for reelection by pointing to his record in Congress.
“Congressman Phillips has voted for nearly 100% of President Biden’s policies, and the President will miss his support for the Biden-Harris legislative agenda,” spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Friday.
Phillips was first elected to Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers the wealthy suburbs around Minneapolis, in 2018. He unseated a Republican incumbent by 11 points in a district that had not elected a Democrat to the House in more than half a century. He handily won reelection in 2020 and 2022.
Following his announcement Friday, Phillips said he had spoken to two Democrats who had previously declared their candidacies for his 3rd District seat – Minnesota state Sen. Kelly Morrison and Democratic National Committee member Ron Harris.
“Had great conversations with both @Morrison4MN and @ronharrismn and can’t wait to pass the torch and get to work for whomever becomes our nominee,” the congressman wrote on social media. “The amazing #DeanTeam, which flipped a 60-year red district blue in ‘18, will be an army of democracy to ensure victory once again in ‘24.”
CNN’s Betsy Klein and Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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