Dean Phillips
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Minnesota's 3rd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded byErik Paulsen
Personal details
Born
Dean Benson Pfefer

(1969-01-20) January 20, 1969
Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)
Karin Einisman
​
​
(m. 1995; div. 2015)​

Annalise Glick
​
(m. 2019)​
Children2
RelativesPauline Phillips (grandmother)
Jeanne Phillips (aunt)
EducationBrown University (BA)
University of Minnesota (MBA)
WebsiteHouse website

Dean Benson Phillips[1] (born January 20, 1969)[2] is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district since 2019.[3] Phillips's district encompasses the western suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Bloomington, Minnetonka, Edina, Maple Grove, Plymouth, and Eden Prairie. A member of the Democratic Party, 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. On November 24, 2023, Phillips announced that he would not run for reelection.[7]

First elected in 2018, Phillips defeated six-term Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen.[8] By flipping the previously Republican district, he became the first Democrat to win the seat since 1958. He has since been reelected twice. Phillips is a Democrat who has consistently voted in support of President Joe Biden's positions. With a net worth of $77 million in 2018, Phillips is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.[9] In 2023, he announced his intent to challenge Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election.[10]

Early life, education, and career

Phillips was born to DeeDee (Cohen) and Artie Pfefer in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1969.[11] Artie was killed in the Vietnam War when Phillips was six months old. DeeDee married Eddie Phillips, heir to the Phillips Distilling Company and the son of advice columnist Pauline Phillips (popularly known as Dear Abby),[12] in 1972. Eddie adopted Dean, who took the last name Phillips.[13]

In the early 1970s, Phillips moved from Saint Paul to Edina. He attended The Blake School.[14]

Phillips graduated from Brown University in 1991 and is 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.[12]

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.[15] 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.[15]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

Phillips addresses the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party State Central Committee in 2018
Dean Phillips for Congress campaign booth at the Minnesota State Fair

In 2018, Phillips ran for the United States House of Representatives in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district as a Democrat.[16] 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.[17]

In the general election, Phillips defeated incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen with 55.6% of the vote.[18] When he took office in 2019, he became the first Democrat to hold this seat since 1961.

2020

Phillips ran for reelection in 2020. He defeated Cole Young in the Democratic primary with 90.7% of the vote[19] and faced off against the Republican nominee, businessman Kendall Qualls.[20] Phillips defeated Qualls with 55.6% of the vote.[21]

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.[22]

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,[23] making him more liberal than average in the 117th Congress when predictive scoring (district partisanship and voting record) is used.[23] 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.[24]

On December 20, 2023, Phillips signed on as a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act.[25] 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".[26] 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 residents who struggle to access healthcare.[27]

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:[28]

Caucus memberships

2024 presidential campaign

In July 2023, Phillips said he was considering challenging President Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries.[31] 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.[32] On October 27, in Concord, New Hampshire, he announced a run for the presidency[33] after he officially filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission the previous day.[34] Phillips said he would challenge to gain access to the primary ballots of several states where the Democratic Party had excluded him.[35][36]

Electoral history

Phillips speaking at an event in June 2022
Democratic primary results, 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
Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, 2018
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
Democratic primary results, 2020[37]
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
Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, 2020[38]
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
Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, 2022[39]
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

Personal life

Phillips is married and has two daughters from a previous marriage. He is Jewish[40] and was acknowledged by the Minnesota publication The American Jewish World for serving on the board of Temple Israel in Minneapolis.[41]

Phillips's paternal step-grandmother Pauline Phillips was the author of the advice column "Dear Abby", under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.[42]

References

  1. ↑ "PAGE BY PAGE REPORT DISPLAY FOR 12951451573 (Page 196 of 371)". Docquery.fec.gov. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Candidate Conversation - Dean Phillips (DFL) - News & Analysis - Inside Elections". Insideelections.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ Coolican, J. Patrick (May 9, 2017). "Minnesota liquor heir hopes to parlay business career into congressional bid". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  4. ↑ Monroe, Nancy Weingartner (September 29, 2017). "Dean Philip's Running For Office While Running Penny's". foodservicenews.net. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Vodka and Gelato Tycoon Challenging Minnesota's Erik Paulsen". Roll Call. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Phillips liquor heir, Dear Abby's grandson launches bid to unseat Congressman Erik Paulsen". Twin Cities. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  7. ↑ Frazier, Kierra (November 24, 2023). "Dean Phillips announces he won't seek reelection to Congress". Politico. Retrieved November 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ "In competitive Third District race, Erik Paulsen, Dean Phillips clash at second debate". AP NEWS. October 5, 2018. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved August 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ "The Wealthiest Members of Congress—And How They Made Their Millions – Fortune". Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  10. ↑ John, Arit; McKend, Eva; Pellish, Aaron (October 26, 2023). "House Democrat Dean Phillips launches primary challenge against President Biden". CNN. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  11. ↑ "MN-03: Dean Phillips (D)". November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Rivera, Erica (January 24, 2018). "Can charming liquor heir Dean Phillips beat Erik Paulsen, Minnesota's corporate congressman?". City Pages. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  13. ↑ Ward, Ian (October 27, 2023). "55 Things You Need to Know About Dean Phillips". Politico. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Dean Phillips". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Mandelbaum, Robb. "He Sold Americans On Small Luxuries Like Gelato. Can He Sell His Minnesota Nice Politics?". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Democrat Phillips defeats incumbent Paulsen in Minnesota's Third District". StarTribune.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Minnesota Primary Election Results: Third House District". The New York Times. August 16, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  18. ↑ "MN Election Results". Electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Official Canvassing Report". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  20. ↑ Orrick, Dave (July 29, 2019). "A black Republican is running for Congress in the metro suburbs. What does he think of Trump?". Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Archived from the original on July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Results for All Congressional Districts". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Minnesota Third Congressional District Election Results". The New York Times. November 8, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  23. 1 2 Wiederkehr, Anna; Bycoffe, Aaron (April 22, 2021). "Does Your Member Of Congress Vote With Or Against Biden?". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  24. ↑ "The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index House Scores 116th Congress First Session (2019)" (PDF). Georgetown University. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  25. ↑ Irwin, Lauren (December 20, 2023). "Phillips endorsing 'Medicare for All' legislation". The Hill. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  26. ↑ Epstein, Reid J.; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (December 20, 2023). "Dean Phillips, an upstart challenger to Biden, embraces 'Medicare for All'". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  27. ↑ Otterbein, Holly (December 20, 2023). "'Medicare for All' bill becomes part of Dean Phillips's presidential pitch". Politico. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Dean Phillips". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. Archived from the original on September 18, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Members". New Democrat Coalition. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  30. ↑ "Minnesotans in Congress get troubling look at U.S.-Mexico border". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  31. ↑ Epstein, Reid J. (July 29, 2023). "Rep. Dean Phillips Says He Is Considering a Run Against Biden". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 25, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  32. ↑ Huynh, Anjali (October 2, 2023). "House Democrat Leaves Leadership Position After Teasing Run Against Biden". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  33. ↑ Schneider, Elena; Kashinsky, Lisa (October 27, 2023). "Biden camp plays it cool. But Dean Phillips' bid is on their radar". Politico. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  34. ↑ Otterbein, Holly; Schneider, Elena (October 26, 2023). "Rep. Dean Phillips files paperwork for presidential bid against Biden". Politico. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  35. ↑ "Dean Phillips, Biden's 'friendly' challenger, no longer pulling punches". Courthouse News. December 11, 2023.
  36. ↑ "Biden primary foe Phillips will challenge states where he missed ballot". Semafor. December 7, 2023.
  37. ↑ "Unofficial Results Tuesday, August 11, 2020". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  38. ↑ "Unofficial Results Tuesday, November 3, 2020". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  39. ↑ "2022 General Election – Results for All Congressional Districts". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  40. ↑ "Dean Phillips & The Road To November 2018". Tcjewfolk.com. May 30, 2017. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  41. ↑ "Dear Abby asked Dean Phillips for advice". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  42. ↑ Alberta, Tim (March 8, 2019). "The Democrats' Dilemma". Politico. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
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