Democrat Dean Phillips Ends Long-Shot Challenge to Biden

(Bloomberg) -- US Representative Dean Phillips suspended his presidential campaign, ending his long-shot campaign to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party’s nomination.

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Phillips, who sought to provide Democrats with another option to Biden, said “it is clear that alternative is not me.”

“It is clear that Joe Biden is OUR candidate and OUR opportunity to demonstrate what type of country America is and intends to be,” he wrote Wednesday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Phillips, in his third term as a congressman from Minnesota, defied his party’s establishment with an insurgent campaign against the incumbent president. His plan to derail Biden’s reelection failed to gain traction among Democratic primary voters.

Phillips spent much of his time on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, where Biden didn’t appear on the ballot. There, he got nearly 20% of the vote, and failed to notch more than single digits in any other state.

Phillips, 55, had hoped to capitalize on polls showing that many Democratic voters are unenthusiastic about Biden’s reelection bid, which has been weighed down by concerns about his age and handling of the economy.

Phillips garnered some backing from Wall Street investors, including billionaire Bill Ackman, who donated $1 million to support the Democrat’s presidential bid.

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