Dean Phillips suspends presidential campaign
FILE - Congressman Dean Phillips announces his presidential campaign on Oct. 27, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. (KSTP/file)
A day after failing to win any primaries on Super Tuesday, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips is suspending his presidential campaign.
The third-term Democratic representative posted a message on social media shortly after noon on Wednesday announcing his decision, which comes less than a month after he laid off many of his campaign staffers.
Phillips launched his campaign in New Hampshire in late October and, after months of campaigning, garnered 19% of the vote in the state’s Democratic presidential primary. However, that was still a distant second to President Joe Biden’s 64%. Phillips continued his campaign to South Carolina but collected less than 2% of the vote, coming in third place behind Biden and Marianne Williamson. On Tuesday, he failed to come close to Biden’s vote total in any of the 15 states that had contests on Super Tuesday but managed 8% of the vote in Minnesota, still well behind Biden’s 71% and the 19% vote for “uncommitted.”
In his announcement Wednesday, Phillips wrote that he ran for president to resist Donald Trump and “because Americans were demanding an alternative, and democracy demands options.”
He continued to say that “it is clear that alternative is not me,” before endorsing Biden.
His announcement came hours after Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican race and left Trump as the party’s only major candidate. Their decisions further cement the likely rematch between Trump and Biden this fall.
Additionally, Phillips announced in November that he won’t run for reelection in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District. DFL state Sen. Kelly Morrison and Republican Tad Jude appear to be the leading candidates for his seat.