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Biden’s Would-Be Democratic Opponent Gets a Primary Challenge of His Own [1]

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Date: 2023-10-13 10:00:00

Rep. Dean Phillips may be toying with the possibility of challenging President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary. But on Friday, the Minnesota Democrat got a serious primary challenge of his own – in part motivated by those presidential flirtations.

Ron Harris, the former Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Minneapolis and a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Executive Committee, announced Friday that he would run against Phillips to represent Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional district.

Harris announced that he is running to “ensure that my community has strong, effective Democratic representation in Washington,” adding that “as our congressman contemplates seeking higher office, I’m ready to step up to ensure our voices are heard, our community is represented, and our district gets the resources we need.”

“Raised by a single mom, I’ve experienced the challenges working families in our community face and felt the daily struggle of just trying to get by,” he said.

Harris has been exploring a run for weeks, spurred on by Phillips’ public and consistent flirtations with launching a long-shot bid against Biden.

Phillips, citing Biden’s age, has been a vocal proponent of the 80-year-old president not seeking reelection. At first, he did so by pushing for other top Democrats to challenge the president, something every name he mentioned had declined to do. Phillips then began to consider mounting a challenge himself, a run that would put the Minnesota Democrat at odds with almost the entire Democratic establishment. But in a sign that he may be serious about the bid, Phillips recently stepped down from a House leadership position because of his possible run.

“My convictions relative to the 2024 presidential race are incongruent with the majority of my caucus, and I felt it appropriate to step aside from elected leadership,” he said in a statement.

With all signs pointing to Phillips running against Biden, Harris’ possible run grew more serious in recent weeks, including hiring George Hornedo, a former aide to Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, and other Democratic operatives to help his bid.

“Ron is running to ensure that the focus in this upcoming election is telling the story of the victories President Biden has achieved, and making sure voters are excited to support him and Democrats up and down the ticket in 2024,” a campaign spokesperson said when asked whether Harris was motivated by Phillips’ criticism of Biden.

Asked about Harris' candidacy on Friday, Phillips said "as a MN-03 voter myself, I prefer candidates who actually live in the district, but competition is good for democracy and Everyone’s Invited!"

The Harris campaign spokesperson said the candidate "grew up in the district where his family bought their first home, helped plant a church, and built community," but that it was "difficult to break into the housing market, and he found a more affordable home a mile outside of the district—an issue that folks across the country know all too well."

"Right now Ron does everything in the district except sleep," the spokesperson said, but added that Harris plans to move back to the district.

Phillips’ criticism of Biden, which has been celebrated by Republicans, has frustrated many top Democrats. That annoyance could end up fueling Harris’ campaign, with some donors eager to hit back at Phillips for taking on the Democratic standard bearer.

Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District leans towards Democrats. Biden won the area by nearly 20 percentage points in 2020. Phillips has represented the district since 2019, winning his seat in 2018 by defeating Republican incumbent Rep. Erik Paulsen 11 percentage points.

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[1] Url: https://themessenger.com/politics/bidens-would-be-democratic-opponent-gets-a-primary-challenge-of-his-own

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