Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips is jumping into the White House race, launching a long-shot presidential primary challenge against President Biden for the party’s 2024 nomination.
“I am excited to announce my candidacy for president in 2024. It’s time to put our country back together again – and use our differences to make us stronger. It’s time to repair America,” Phillips said in a launch video posted on social media on Thursday evening.
Phillips will formally declare his candidacy Friday in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary in the presidential nominating calendar.
While the 54-year-old millionaire businessman and co-founder of a gelato company turned three-term member of Congress may be a familiar face in his congressional district in suburban Minneapolis, he is virtually unknown to most Americans.
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Here are five things to know about Dean Phillips.
1) Phillips is a Gold Star son
Phillips was just six months old when his father, Artie Pfefer, was killed in action in the Vietnam War in 1969.
Phillips and his mother, who was 24-years-old at the time, moved in with his great-grandparents, where he spent the next three years of his life.
2) He’s an heir to a distilling fortune
In 1972, Phillips mother married Eddie Phillips, and Dean Phillips became an adopted heir of Phillips Distilling Company, the family business known for producing the country’s first brand of schnapps.
Phillips joined the company two decades later as a young adult. He soon made his mark when the company purchased the importing rights in the U.S. for the popular Belvedere brand of vodka. He later ran the family business for a dozen years.
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3) Phillips helped build the Talenti gelato brand
After the passing of his adoptive father, Phillips left the family distilling company to join a small gelato business in which his father had invested.
Along with his new partners, Phillips built Talenti into one of America’s most popular and successful gelato brands.
4) He flipped a red seat blue
As a first-time politician, Phillips defeated six-term Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen in 2018 during a blue wave election in which the Democrats won back the House majority.
Phillips became the first Democrat to win the Minnesota seat in nearly six decades. He comfortably won re-election in 2020 and again last year.
5) Phillips is one of the wealthiest members of Congress
When he first ran for the House in 2018, Phillips disclosed $77 million in assets. His net worth is now estimated at over $120 million, making him one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
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