5 things to know about Democrat Dean Phillips challenging Biden

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., holds a rally outside of the N.H. Statehouse after handing over his declaration of candidacy form for president to the New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, on October 27, 2023, in Concord. While touting the accomplishments of President Biden, Rep. Phillips believes that new democratic leadership is needed and has joined the 2024 presidential race. | Gaelen Morse/Getty Images

A new primary challenger has emerged to take on President Joe Biden as the 2024 presidential election is just over a year away.

Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., formally announced his candidacy for president in New Hampshire on Oct. 27. Phillips is now the second prominent Democrat to challenge Biden, along with unsuccessful 2020 Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson. In an X post sharing a clip of his announcement on CBS, Phillips cited his concern that “on our current course, the Democrats will lose and [former President Donald] Trump will be our president again” as the primary reason for his entry into the race.

I am running for President as a Democrat in 2024.

My campaign will be about four main things.

First and foremost, it will be about the economy. We have to make life more affordable for the middle class, which is the issue that voters care about most. We need to bring down the… https://t.co/dNyRtITHzq

— Dean Phillips ???????? (@deanbphillips) October 27, 2023

While praising Biden as “a good man” and “someone I tremendously respect,” Phillips warned that “if President Biden is the nominee, we face an unacceptable risk of Trump being back in the White House.” Phillips’ comments reflect that Biden suffers from low approval ratings and that Trump continues to dominate Republican presidential primary polling.

According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls measuring Biden’s approval ratings from Oct. 2-26, just 40.7% of voters approve of Biden’s job performance, while 55.6% disapprove. At the same time, the RealClearPolitics average of polls sampling the opinions of Republican primary voters taken from Oct. 4-23 shows Trump securing 59.1% of the vote.

The RealClearPolitics average of polls testing voter preferences in a hypothetical general election matchup between Trump and Biden shows Trump with a narrow 0.7 percentage point lead. This average is based on polls conducted between Oct. 6-23.

Phillips identified the economy and safety as “the generational change the country wants” as well as “listening to each other to get back to a less divisive political environment” as the primary areas of focus of his campaign. While he acknowledged “this campaign is a long shot,” Phillips expressed optimism that “we can do this together.”

Here’s a list of five things to know about the newly declared presidential candidate.

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com