Rep. Dean Phillips finishes a distant third in South Carolina Democratic presidential primary

Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips came in a distant third to President Joe Biden on Saturday in South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary.

Phillips, the third-term congressman who represents many western Twin Cities suburbs, received 1.7% of the vote, while Biden earned 96.2% and Marianne Williamson got 2.1%. With nearly all results tallied on Sunday morning, Phillips had a total of 2,239 votes.

The contest was the first opportunity for Democratic presidential candidates to win delegates, and Biden picked up all 55 for the state. The Republican South Carolina primary will be Feb. 24.

New Hampshire’s Democratic primary on Jan. 23 didn’t award delegates because the state defied the Democratic National Committee and held its vote before South Carolina. Biden’s name was not on the ballot there, but a successful write-in campaign earned him 64% of the vote to Phillips’ 20%.

The next Democratic primary is Tuesday in Nevada, although Phillips will not appear on the ballot. On Feb. 27, he will face Biden in Michigan, the last Democratic primary before Super Tuesday on March 5 when more than a dozen states, including Minnesota, hold contests.

Phillips was a long shot in South Carolina, the state that revived Biden’s White House bid in 2020. The Minnesotan spent the Tuesday before the primary at a fireside chat in San Francisco.

Reached by phone Sunday afternoon, Phillips suggested South Carolina’s results were roughly as expected. He pointed to his post on X last week that predicted a 95% win for Biden.

“I loved every minute of it,” he said of campaigning in the state. But he said he is dedicating more resources elsewhere because few states are as supportive of Biden as South Carolina.

“Cracking four digits never felt so good! Congratulations, Mr. President, on a good old fashioned whooping,” Phillips wrote in a post on X.

Phillips said he’ll soon take his “government repair truck” to Michigan, where he plans to spend most of February.

His primary challenge to a sitting president has faced criticism, including from his Minnesota colleagues in Washington, D.C.

Last week, Sen. Tina Smith roasted Phillips over the low attendance of his rallies. That’s something Phillips himself has joked about: When one South Carolina campaign event drew just 12 people seated in a circle, including a fourth-grader and a dog, he quipped that it “felt like a séance,” the Post and Courier reported.

Despite the criticism, Phillips’ persistence in the race without any primary wins — or even coming close — isn’t unprecedented, said Eric Ostermeier, a research fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and the author of Smart Politics.

Ostermeier cited Pat Buchanan, the underdog Republican who challenged incumbent President George H.W. Bush for the GOP nomination in 1992.

Buchanan, who ran against Bush from the right, hoped to parlay a strong showing in New Hampshire into success in later primaries, but his efforts “never quite panned out,” Ostermeier said. While Buchanan took in enough cash to keep his campaign afloat, he never came as close to Bush.

In another post on X on Saturday night, Phillips seemed to joke about his finish in South Carolina — and put some of the blame on low voter turnout.

”Pleased by my top three finish in tonight’s Democratic primary in South Carolina ;) Guess what % of registered voters participated?” he wrote. According to media reports, roughly 4% of registered South Carolina voters cast a ballot.

Asked for his response to critics who question his endgame, Phillips criticized a political system that he said faces a crisis of participation, leaving many voters feeling like they have no good options in November.

“The endgame is, of course, to become president the United States and defeat Donald Trump. That is the entire end game and I will use every tactic and be resolute on that path,” he said.

“In the meantime, we have a democratic republic that should be promoting competition and campaigns and speech and voter participation. And that is my mission: to say the quiet part out loud, tell people the truth about how this really works and try my best to inspire more participation.”