Biden Primary Challenger Battling With States Keeping Him Off Ballots
Democrat presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) is preparing for war against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and several state parties after he was not included on the primary ballot in some states.
Phillips announced his decision to run against President Joe Biden in the Democrat primary at the end of October. His campaign began just one month before the candidate deadline in several state primaries.
Thus far, Phillips has been left off the ballot in Tennessee, Florida and North Carolina — prompting him to file challenges against the DNC and state parties.
He expressed his outrage over the decisions in a statement to far-left outlet Semafor.
“Unilaterally taking away the right of rank-and-file Democrats, including a disproportionate number of Black voters demanding a more affordable America, is reprehensible,” the statement read. “If Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump and lead us to a safer, more affordable future, let him compete for that privilege without his supporters suppressing and disenfranchising millions of voters.”
Phillips has already begun sparring with Florida Democrats after the state canceled its March 19 Democrat primary, approving Biden as the only candidate in the race. The state does not hold primary contests if a candidate is running unopposed.
During the state party convention from October 27-29, the Florida Democratic Party submitted a list of recognized candidates. Phillips had launched his campaign before this list was finalized.
“Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee,” Phillips wrote in a statement. “The Florida Democratic Party’s intentional disenfranchisement of voters runs counter to everything for which our Democratic Party and country stand. Our mission as Democrats is to defeat authoritarians, not become them.”
Florida Democrats have fired back at Phillips, claiming that the party followed the standard process — citing similar procedures in October 2019 for the 2020 election, when they voted to submit recognized candidates at the state convention.
“We are dismayed by Dean Phillips’s conspiratorial and inappropriate comments comparing the state of Florida to the Iranian regime as part of his knee-jerk reaction to long-established procedures,” Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried wrote in a statement. “This is unbecoming of someone running for higher office.”
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Phillips followed the typical procedure of submitting signatures to gain access to the primary ballot. One of two ways the state allows a candidate to appear on each party’s primary ballot is to file at least 2,500 signatures no later than December 5. Phillips submitted 3,000 signatures before the deadline.
The chair of each statewide political party is then allowed to submit the names of these candidates to the secretary of state to be placed on the primary ballot. However, the documents released by the secretary of state show that only Biden will be appearing on the ballot, though Phillips’ signatures are reportedly under review.
Phillips was also left off the ballot in North Carolina, where the state’s Democratic Party chairman, Anderson Clayton, has listed Biden as the only candidate on the primary ballot in a letter to the state board of elections.
