Biden challenger Phillips prepares for war with states keeping him off their ballots

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), the Democrat who has mounted a primary challenge against President Joe Biden, will file challenges against the Democratic National Committee and state parties to get on the ballot in some states.

The long-shot Democratic contender was left off the ballot in Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina after launching a presidential bid at the end of October. Phillips’s run started a month before some state primaries’ candidate deadlines, which include some in 2023 or early 2024. Deadlines for the various Super Tuesday contests on March 5, 2024, fall in November and December.

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“Unilaterally taking away the right of rank-and-file Democrats, including a disproportionate number of Black voters demanding a more affordable America, is reprehensible,” Phillips said in a statement to Semafor. “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 and Florida Democrats sparred last week after the state approved Biden as the only candidate and canceled its March 19 primary. The Florida Democratic Party submitted a list of recognized candidates at the state party convention from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29 and doesn’t hold primary contests if a candidate is running unopposed. Phillips launched his campaign before the Democrats finalized their list.

“Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee,” Phillips said 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 pushed back, saying the party followed the standard process for nominating candidates, noting they did the same in October 2019 for the 2020 election, voting 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 said. “This is unbecoming of someone running for higher office.”

In Tennessee, Phillips submitted more than 3,000 signatures to gain access to the primary ballot. In one of two ways to appear on each candidate’s party’s primary ballot, the state requires candidates to file at least 2,500 no later than Dec. 5.

The chair of each statewide political party can submit the names of candidates recognized to be placed on the primary ballot to the secretary of state. The secretary of state released documents showing that only Biden would appear on the ballot; however, Phillips’s signatures are under review.

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North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Anderson Clayton also listed Biden as the only candidate to appear on the primary ballot in a letter to the state board of elections, which finalizes the names based on the direction of political parties, according to Semafor.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the DNC and Democratic state parties for comment.