Dean Phillips
American businessman and politician (born 1969) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dean Benson Phillips[1] (né Pfefer; born January 20, 1969)[2] is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for Minnesota's 3rd congressional district from 2019 to 2025.[3] A member of the Democratic Party, his district encompasses the western suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Bloomington, Minnetonka, Edina, Maple Grove, Plymouth, and Eden Prairie. Outside of politics, Phillips has both owned and started several companies in addition to serving as president and CEO of his family's liquor business, the Phillips Distilling Company.[4][5][6] He is the former co-owner of Talenti gelato and co-owns Penny's Coffee.
Dean Phillips | |
---|---|
Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee | |
In office January 3, 2023 – October 1, 2023 | |
Leader | Hakeem Jeffries |
Preceded by | Debbie Dingell Matt Cartwright Ted Lieu |
Succeeded by | Lori Trahan |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 3rd district | |
In office January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2025 | |
Preceded by | Erik Paulsen |
Succeeded by | Kelly Morrison |
Personal details | |
Born | Dean Benson Pfefer January 20, 1969 Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) |
Karin Einisman
(m. 1995; div. 2015)Annalise Glick (m. 2019) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Pauline Phillips (grandmother) Jeanne Phillips (aunt) |
Education | Brown University (BA) University of Minnesota (MBA) |
Website | House website |
First elected in 2018, Phillips defeated six-term Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen.[7] By flipping the previously Republican district, he became the first Democrat to win the seat since 1958, and has since been reelected twice by comfortable margins. In November 2023, Phillips announced that he would not run for reelection.[8] Despite consistently voting in support of President Joe Biden's policy positions, he challenged him for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2024 presidential election.[9][10] Phillips received the second-highest number of delegates of any candidate in the primaries (four), but was unsuccessful.[11][12]
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Early life, education, and career
Phillips was born to DeeDee (Cohen) and Artie Pfefer in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1969.[13] His biological father was killed in the Vietnam War six months after Phillips was born, making him a Gold Star Son.[14] His mother married Eddie Phillips, heir to the Phillips Distilling Company and the son of advice columnist Pauline Phillips (popularly known as Dear Abby),[15] in 1972. Eddie adopted Dean, who took the last name Phillips.[16] He was raised Jewish.[17]
In the early 1970s, Phillips moved from Saint Paul to Edina. He attended The Blake School.[18]
Phillips graduated from Brown University in 1991 and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He worked for bicycle equipment and apparel company InMotion for two years, and then joined his family's company's corporate office. He later completed his Master of Business Administration at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management in 2000. After graduation, he was named the president and CEO of his family's organization, Phillips Distilling Company.[15]
Phillips served as the company's president and CEO from 2000 to 2012. He then stepped aside to run one of his other corporate investments, Talenti gelato, until it was sold for an undisclosed amount to Unilever in 2014.[19] In 2016 he founded Penny's Coffee, a coffeeshop chain he still owns, which has two locations in the Twin Cities metropolitan area as of 2022.[19]
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U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
In 2018, Phillips ran for the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district as a Democrat.[20] In the Democratic primary, he defeated former sales associate Cole Young with 81.6% of the vote. Phillips won all three counties in the district.[21]
In the general election, Phillips defeated incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen with 55.6% of the vote.[22] When he took office in 2019, he became the first Democrat to hold this seat since 1961.[citation needed]
2020
Phillips ran for reelection in 2020. He defeated Cole Young in the Democratic primary with 90.7% of the vote[23] and faced off against the Republican nominee, businessman Kendall Qualls.[24] Phillips defeated Qualls with 55.6% of the vote.[25]
2022
Phillips was unopposed in the Democratic primary. In the general election, he defeated the Republican nominee, retired U.S. Navy submarine officer Tom Weiler, with 60% of the vote.[26]
Tenure
According to FiveThirtyEight's congressional vote tracker at ABC News, Phillips voted with President Joe Biden's stated public policy positions 100% of the time,[27] making him more liberal than average in the 117th Congress when predictive scoring (district partisanship and voting record) is used.[27] Phillips voted in favor of Biden's major economic agenda items, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the CHIPS and Science Act.[28] During the start of his first term in 2019, the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University placed him 27th out of 435 members in terms of bipartisanship.[29]
Phillips sponsored the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020, which President Trump signed into law.[30][31]
In 2021, Phillips received the Bipartisan Policy Center's Bipartisan Legislative Action Award.[32]
Phillips authored five provisions in the H.R.1 legislation that passed the House in March 2021. H.R.1 was an enormous anti-corruption and voting rights reform bill known as the For the People Act. It also included a major overhaul of campaign finance and redistricting laws. Phillips's provisions for the package included the Voter NOTICE Act, which sought to fight disinformation, and the FIREWALL Act, which sought to strengthen safeguards of online advertising.[33]
Phillips co-sponsored the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act, giving Liberians a pathway to citizenship, which President Trump signed into law.[34][35]
Phillips co-sponsored H.R. 2307, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which would put a price on carbon and return the proceeds to taxpayers,[36] and H.R. 8395, the EPA Regulatory Authority Act of 2022, which would restore the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.[37]
On March 5, 2022, Phillips was among the lawmakers who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about providing additional help to Ukraine in fending off Russia's invasion.[38][39]
On May 10, 2022, Phillips received an A+ on the anti-corruption and voting rights scorecard from End Citizens United for "rejecting corporate PAC money and supporting once-in-a-generation anti-corruption and voting rights legislation."[40]
Phillips was among the U.S. delegation that attended the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.[41]
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Phillips co-sponsored bills to protect women's reproductive rights that aimed to ensure access to abortion and reproductive health care across states, including H.R. 8297: Ensuring Access to Abortion Act of 2022[42] and HR 8111: My Body, My Data Act of 2022.[43]
Phillips sponsored the Pathways to Policing Act to provide $50 million to the Department of Justice and local communities in funding to enhance officer recruitment efforts.[44][45][46] Another $50 million would go to the Department of Justice to create Minnesota-style Pathways to Policing programs in states across the nation.[47]
On July 10, 2023, Phillips co-led the bicameral IDEA Full Funding Act in the House of Representatives. This legislation aimed to finally ensure Congress fulfills its commitment to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).[48][49]
One of Phillips's points of pride during his tenure in Congress is his claim that he is the only member of Congress to refuse all money from lobbyists, special interest groups, and Political Action Committees, and his decision to not have his own leadership Political Action Committee.[50]
On December 20, 2023, Phillips signed on as a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act.[51] This marked a departure from his earlier position on healthcare; he said that he had previously been "convinced through propaganda that [single-payer healthcare] was a nonsensical leftist notion".[52] He cited a confluence of factors that shifted his view in favor of Medicare for All, including his experience caring for his daughter who had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, the financial strain of providing health insurance to his employees as a business owner, and the dynamics of representing a congressional district that includes the headquarters of UnitedHealth Group as well as many people who struggle to access healthcare.[53]
On May 17, 2024, Phillips reintroduced the Voter Choice Act in the 118th Congress, which provides $40 million in federal matching grants, covering up to 50% of the cost for local and state governments that choose to adopt ranked-choice voting.[54][55]
On September 27, 2024, Phillips introduced the American Dream Accounts Act of 2024, which would establish in the Social Security Administration a $5,000 account for every American child to be invested in an index fund and vest upon graduation from high school, GED, or waiver for disability.[56][57]
On December 16, 2024, Phillips delivered his farewell address on the House floor.[58] In it, he criticized America's two major political parties for "legalized corruption" that prioritizes their own "self-protection over principles"[59] and urged his colleagues to find commonsense solutions and focus on ideas over ideology in solving problems.[60][61]
Committee assignments
For the 118th Congress:[62]
Caucus memberships
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2024 presidential campaign
In July 2022, Phillips became the first incumbent Democratic member of Congress to say President Biden should not run for re-election and called for "generational change" pointing to Biden's age.[66][67] In July 2023, Phillips said he was considering challenging President Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries.[68] Before launching his campaign, Phillips reportedly reached out to other elected Democratic officials, such as Governors Gretchen Whitmer and JB Pritzker, to urge them to enter the presidential primary, but they declined to speak with him directly.[69][70] In October 2023, he announced that he would step down as co-chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee because his views on the 2024 presidential race were incongruent with the majority of his caucus.[71] On October 27, in Concord, New Hampshire, he announced a run for the presidency[72] after he officially filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission the previous day.[73] Phillips argued during his campaign that Biden would be a weak general election candidate due to his age and low approval ratings.[74] Phillips campaigned as a younger alternative to Biden, who would be a stronger opponent to Trump.[75][76] Phillips campaign slogan was “Make America Affordable Again,” which is a play both on former President Donald Trump’s political movement and high voter dissatisfaction with the economy, especially with inflation and sustained high prices.[77] In November 2023, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College and the Dartmouth Political Union co-hosted a discussion with Phillips as part of their "Path to the Presidency" speaker series to discuss his campaign and policy positions.[78][79][80] On December 23, 2023, Phillips argued that Biden should “thoughtfully exit” the 2024 race.[81] Phillips said he would challenge to gain access to the primary ballots of several states where the Democratic Party had excluded him.[82][83] The Democratic Party of Wisconsin left Phillips off the ballot; he appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on January 26, 2024.[84] The court unanimously ruled on February 2 that Phillips should be included on the ballot.[85] Phillips accused representatives of the Biden campaign of using access to pressure liberal media outlets into blackballing and not platforming him.[86][87] The New York Times reported that during his campaign, Phillips found himself "deplatformed": taken off the ballot in some states and rarely invited on television to make his case.[88] Phillips also accused the Democratic National Committee of actively obstructing Democrats and Independents from ballot access—"bleeding campaigns dry" by suing non-incumbent candidates and imposing "absurd signature requirements".[89] Phillips said in his 100 days as President that he intended to build "the most extraordinary bipartisan cabinet in American history." As for other first 100-day priorities, Phillips also said he intended to use “zero-based budgeting” and hire an international consulting firm to conduct a “top-down assessment” of the federal government.[90] Phillips told CNN that when he entered the presidential race, “This was not about me.” He continued, “But my inability to attract other candidates, to inspire the president to recognize that it is time, compels me to serve my country because it appears that President Joe Biden is going to lose the next election.”[74]
Phillips received his first endorsement from New Hampshire State Representative Steve Shurtleff, who said his main reason for doing so was Biden allowing the Democratic National Committee to attempt to strip the state of its first-in-the-nation status.[91] Shurtleff said in January 2023 that he would endorse a candidate other than Biden if this occurred.[92] New Hampshire State Representative Tom Schamberg also endorsed Phillips.
Andrew Yang consistently expressed support for Phillips's campaign since soon after its launch, and co-hosted campaign events in Manchester and Hanover, New Hampshire, with him on January 18.[93][94]
In January 2024, billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said he supported Phillips's campaign, donating $1 million to his We Deserve Better campaign PAC.[95]
On January 8, 2024, Phillips participated in a debate against Marianne Williamson hosted by New England College in Manchester, New Hampshire.[96]
On January 12, 2024, NewsNation hosted a forum featuring Phillips and other Democratic presidential candidates. Biden was invited but did not attend. Dan Abrams moderated the discussion.[97]
On January 23, 2024, Phillips scolded reporters during a press gaggle in New Hampshire on Monday ahead of the state's primary election, saying they weren't focused on the issues Americans care about. Phillips told them that voters care about the economy, inflation, health care, Social Security, the problem with homelessness in their cities, and improving education. And he reiterated that their "clickbait" questions were not what the average American cares about.[98]
Other notable people who endorsed Phillips are angel investor and podcaster Jason Calacanis,[99] political and corporate strategist Steve Schmidt,[100] and Jeffrey P. Weaver, political strategist and former campaign manager for Bernie Sanders.[101] Newspapers that endorsed Phillips are New Hampshire Union Leader,[102] Conway Daily Sun,[103] and The Detroit News.[104]
Phillips lost the New Hampshire Democratic primary to Biden, receiving 19.9% of the vote. Biden was a write-in candidate.[105] In the California primary, Phillips received 2.8% of the total votes cast, with 100,284 votes.[106]
On March 6, 2024, Phillips suspended his campaign following Super Tuesday and endorsed Joe Biden.[107]
Phillips had the second-most awarded pledged delegates of any candidate in the 2024 Democratic Party presidential primaries, with four.[11] He earned a total of 529,486 votes in the Democratic presidential primary.[108] In the Ohio Democratic presidential primary, he received 12.9% of the total votes cast and three delegates to the Democratic National Convention, meeting the 15% threshold of votes needed to receive a delegate in a congressional district in the state's 2nd, 6th, and 14th districts.[109][108] In the Nebraska primary, Phillips received 9.8% of the total vote and earned one delegate by receiving the most votes of any candidate in Logan County, with 55.6% of the vote.[110] Based on the Nebraska primary results, one Phillips delegate represented Madison County at the Nebraska Democratic State Convention.[111] In the Oklahoma primary, he received 8.9% of the vote and a plurality in Cimarron County.[112][113][114] In the Missouri primary, he tied with Biden in Clark County.[115][116]
Biden withdrew from the presidential election on July 21, 2024.[117] The same day, shortly before Biden ended his campaign, Phillips urged Democrats to hold an "immediate" vote of confidence on Biden in a Wall Street Journal column and Face the Nation interview amid growing concerns about his reelection chances.[118][119][120] Despite claiming that he still endorsed Biden, Phillips also said on Face the Nation that "it is time [for Biden] to step aside and turn this over to a new generation."[119]
After Biden withdrew, Phillips said numerous Democrats reached out to him and expressed regret at not taking his concerns more seriously. He expressed disappointment that Biden had not dropped out far earlier and said, "vindication has never felt so unfulfilling." The New York Times dubbed him the "modern Cassandra of American politics" because his warnings about Biden's fitness and age proved prescient despite being ignored.[88] The Minnesota Star Tribune reported in August that Phillips said, "If people write anything, I just hope that they might write if [Biden] had debated me then and he had been on one stage, unscripted, with a national audience, and he demonstrated that decline then, this would have been very different circumstances." He continued, "And that’s what I was trying to do."[121]
On July 21, 2024, Phillips proposed a straw poll of delegates ahead of the Democratic National Convention to determine the party's top four presidential contenders, who would then take part in four town halls outlining their platforms.[122] After the town halls, the delegates would vote to choose the nominee.[123][124]
In an interview with the Nation after the election, Phillips said, “My run wasn’t about me. It was about having a legitimate, invitational, competitive, spirited primary. That means debate. And had there been other candidates on a primary stage, I’m almost certain that Americans, at least Democratic primary voters, would have selected someone in a better position to ultimately beat the most dangerous Republican candidate of our lifetime.”[125]
The HuffPost reported that after the election, Phillips said of his White House bid, “I would do it a thousand times again.” And he continued, “My only regret — and it’s a big one — is that so many of my colleagues who felt exactly the same way couldn’t find the courage to say and do something about it.”[126]
U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, the first sitting Democrat in Congress to openly call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 United States presidential election after the first presidential debate, said after Trump won, "I only regret I didn't do it earlier ... I believe that the only person in our caucus who doesn't share some responsibility for the outcome is Dean Phillips, who came out early."[127]
On December 26, 2024, Mother Jones named Phillips a "Hero of 2024" for being the only elected official to challenge Biden in the Democratic primary who tried to make the case that Biden was unfit for office.[128]
On December 28, 2024, Politico reported that Phillips was right about Biden's re-election campaign. And that his decision to launch a primary challenge proved prescient after Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump.[129] On the same day, the Guardian also reported that Phillips is “saddened” to be vindicated by the accuracy of his prediction at the time that the outgoing president could not win re-election.[130]
On December 30, 2024, the New York Times dubbed Phillips the "Most Prophetic" in their 2024 High School Yearbook of American Politics for his challenge to Biden for the Democratic nomination.[131]
On January 5, 2025, an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal claimed that we should all "give Dean Phillips his due for questioning President Biden’s fitness for office as early as July 2022."[132]
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Electoral history
2018
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Dean Phillips | 56,697 | 81.6 | |
Democratic (DFL) | Cole Young | 12,784 | 18.4 | |
Total votes | 69,481 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Dean Phillips | 202,402 | 55.6 | |
Republican | Erik Paulsen (incumbent) | 160,839 | 44.2 | |
Write-in | 707 | 0.2 | ||
Total votes | 363,948 | 100 | ||
Democratic (DFL) gain from Republican |
2020
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Dean Phillips (incumbent) | 73,011 | 90.7 | |
Democratic (DFL) | Cole Young | 7,443 | 9.3 | |
Total votes | 80,454 | 100.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Dean Phillips (incumbent) | 246,666 | 55.6 | |
Republican | Kendall Qualls | 196,625 | 44.3 | |
Write-in | 312 | 0.1 | ||
Total votes | 443,603 | 100 |
2022
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Dean Phillips (incumbent) | 198,883 | 59.6 | |
Republican | Tom Weiler | 134,797 | 40.4 | |
Write-in | 241 | 0.2 | ||
Total votes | 333,921 | 100 | ||
Democratic (DFL) hold |
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Personal life
Phillips is married and has two daughters from a previous marriage. He is Jewish[136] and was acknowledged by the Minnesota publication The American Jewish World for serving on the board of Temple Israel in Minneapolis.[137]
Phillips's paternal grandmother Pauline Phillips was the author of the advice column "Dear Abby", under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.[138]
Phillips is friends with actor Woody Harrelson. Phillips had met and became friends with Harrelson when he had been filming in Minnesota and rented Phillip's house for the shoot of the movie "Wilson". Harrelson joined Phillips on a trip to Vietnam, where Phillips's father had been killed in a helicopter crash.[139][140]
Phillips is a Minnesota Vikings fan.[141][142]
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References
External links
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