Minnesota Rep. Phillips quits longshot bid for presidency, places third in home state

After taking third place in Minnesota's Democratic presidential primary, Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips announced he would end his longshot campaign and endorse President Joe Biden.

The 55-year-old representative took to X, formerly Twitter, to suspend his campaign that failed to win a single state primary.

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"It is clear that alternative is not me," he said in the post. "And it is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be."

Phillips placed third behind President Joe Biden and 'uncommitted', an initiative to protest Biden's policies concerning the Israel-Hamas war.

Phillips failed to distinguish himself early on from the incumbent and primarily ran as a younger alternative to move the party forward.

More: Minnesotans 'uncommitted' message to Democrats: "Watch what you're doing"

Throughout his campaign, Phillips has criticized Biden for running for a second term despite concerns over his age and mental competency.

During an interview with the St. Cloud Times, Phillips said the Democratic party was a "slow-motion train wreck" in their "coronation" of the 81-year-old president and lack of openness or support for a challenger.

When asked what his role might look like outside of an election cycle in cleaning up the party, Phillips said he'd use his experience as a businessman to disrupt the "duopoly" of the party nominating process: "I will surely be playing some role to either reform my own party and or ensure that there's viable, authentic, competent, competition to provide American voters the options that they are clearly demanding."

"Then, more importantly, perhaps," he said. "Is to compel American voters to start participating, no person can single-handedly change the dynamic. Americans have to start taking responsibility seriously and participating in primary elections and general elections. "

More: Minnesota Congressman Phillips reflects on "campaign of principle" ahead of Super Tuesday

Phillips announced last year that he would not seek re-election for his third district congressional seat. His term is set to end next January and Phillips has already endorsed Minnesota Democratic State Senator and OBGYN Kelly Morrison to succeed him.

—Sam Woodward is the Minnesota elections reporting fellow for USA Today. You can reach her at swoodward@gannett.com, on X @woodyreports, and on Threads @samjowoody.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips drops out of presidential race