Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips ends presidential campaign and endorses Joe Biden

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips ended his longshot presidential campaign Wednesday and endorsed President Joe Biden after suffering losses in more than a dozen states’ Democratic primary elections, including in his home state.

The third-term Minnesota congressman announced he would end his campaign during an interview on WCCO Radio. His announcement came after he received less than 8% of the vote in Minnesota’s Democratic presidential primary on Tuesday, finishing a distant third behind Biden and “uncommitted.” Activists angry with Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war urged Minnesotans to vote uncommitted in protest.

“Clearly and convincingly, Democratic primary voters have opined that I’m not that guy,” Phillips told WCCO. “That’s why today ... I’m going to suspend my campaign and I will be, right now, endorsing President Biden. Because the choices are so clear.”

“The alternative, Donald Trump, is a very dangerous, dangerous man,” he said.

Phillips’ presidential campaign never gained the traction it needed nationally or at home.

Most of his constituents in Minnesota’s west suburban Third Congressional District voted for someone else Tuesday. Phillips got about 14% of the vote there, far behind Biden and just barely ahead of uncommitted.

Phillips was once considered a rising star in the party. U.S. House Democrats elected him to a leadership position that gave him an influential say in their messaging. In Minnesota, and some speculated he could one day run for governor or U.S. Senate, a notion Phillips shot down.

The congressman openly admitted he “torpedoed” his political career by going against the incumbent president and the Democratic establishment. His campaign drew the ire of some constituents and fellow elected Democrats in Minnesota, some of whom he feuded with publicly.

“If there’s nothing else I want people to take away from this endeavor, it’s that no matter your comfort, no matter your position, no matter your power, if you are not someone willing to give it all up in the spirit of your convictions and your principles, you are not honorable and you are not a person of integrity,” Phillips said Wednesday.

Phillips launched his presidential campaign in late October. His best showing came in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary in January, where he received nearly 20% of the vote but still lost by a resounding margin to Biden, who wasn’t on the ballot and was a write-in choice.

On the campaign trail, Phillips stuck to his core message that Biden is too old and unpopular to win re-election, but he also made missteps along the way.

He was criticized for alleged campaign finance violations, for removing language about diversity, equity and inclusion from his campaign website and for hiring a consultant who later commissioned a fake Biden robocall that urged New Hampshire residents not to vote in their state’s primary. Phillips condemned the robocall and his campaign said he had no knowledge of it and that the consultant acted on his own accord.

Phillips further angered Democrats and confused political observers by repeatedly flirting with the idea of running as a third-party candidate if he lost to Biden.

It was a puzzling turn for a congressman who was previously considered pragmatic and disciplined.

He vowed to continue his campaign as long as he could but acknowledged it would be difficult if he couldn’t raise enough money. A multimillionaire and heir to the Phillips liquor fortune, he said in January he’d invested $5 million of his own money in his campaign.

In mid-February, Phillips announced he had to lay off many of his campaign staff. Before losing Michigan’s primary election on Feb. 27, he told the Star Tribune he was shifting to a volunteer-based effort.

Phillips never held a presidential campaign event in Minnesota.

Susan Asinger, 80, said she voted uncommitted in hopes of sending Biden a message about the war in Gaza. But she said she’ll vote for Biden in November and was disappointed in Phillips for mounting an intraparty challenge against the president.

“While it may have been fine to have an alternative candidate, it was too late by the time he entered the race,” Asinger said after voting at Wayzata City Hall. “We need to be strong as a party for Biden.”

She added that she hoped Phillips would end his campaign after Super Tuesday and get behind Biden.

“I think he owes the party that,” she said.

But Phillips won some fans, too. Orono High School senior Audrey Gratton voted for the first time in Wayzata on Tuesday and chose the congressman.

“[He’s] the person I thought would be the best candidate,” said Gratton, 18. “I would like someone not as old as Joe Biden in office, and I don’t agree with Donald Trump’s point of view.”

Phillips reiterated Wednesday that he wouldn’t run for public office again in Minnesota and thanked those who supported him.

“Like any endeavor that is a difficult one, it will expose the greatest joys you’ve ever experienced and probably the greatest pain. It will surprise nobody when I say that this one has done both,” Phillips said on WCCO.