Will New Hampshire be a boost or a whimper for Dean Phillips?
By Briana Bierschbach
Good morning. If you’re waking up in New Hampshire for some reason, it’s presidential primary day, one that’s being treated as illegitimate by some campaigns and the center of the political universe by others.
That includes Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, who has been aggressively courting votes in the state known for its independent streak, reports Ryan Faircloth, who has been on the ground for days, along with photojournalist Glen Stubbe. Phillips is telling voters that the Democratic establishment is working against them and President Joe Biden is too old and too unpopular to beat Donald Trump this fall. New Hampshire is bucking the DNC’s reorganized nomination schedule, so Biden will only be on the ballot if people write him in. Given that wrinkle, Phillips won’t win any presidential delegates tonight, but his campaign is hopeful a strong showing will force a reckoning within the Democratic Party.
But he angered some Democrats over the weekend as he seemed to flirt with a No Labels bid, telling Faircloth that a bipartisan, third-party ticket would need a “a Ron DeSantis or a [Vivek] Ramaswamy” on it to effectively pull votes away from Trump. Yesterday, he clarified his initial comments, saying he isn’t considering running as an independent or third-party candidate right now and remains committed to running for the Democratic nomination. He also said he “would never do so with people like that.”
BIDEN: Meanwhile, Biden plans to travel to this Midwest this week, stopping just across the Wisconsin border in Superior to talk infrastructure, reports Christa Lawler. He’ll have at least one major project to talk about while he’s there: the Blatnik Bridge, which connects Minnesota to Wisconsin, and just got $1 billion in federal federal funding. It’s the Department of Transportation’s largest INFRA (Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects program) grant ever, according to Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office, and it will no doubt crop up in other campaigns this fall. Gov. Tim Walz criticized GOP Rep. Pete Stauber on X yesterday for celebrating the funding coming to his district when he “voted against every screw, steel beam, and concrete pier in this bridge.” Walz will be in Duluth today for the launch of former state Rep. Jennifer Schultz’s repeat bid against Stauber in the Eighth District.
CD2: The Republican presidential race is cropping up as an issue in Minnesota’s Second District GOP race. Republican attorney and candidate Tayler Rahm endorsed Trump for president over the weekend and called on his endorsement opponent Joe Teirab to do the same. Minnesota’s entire GOP delegation endorsed Trump earlier this month. The race is quickly narrowing in on the former president, with Ron DeSantis out and New Hampshire looking like Trump’s state to lose tonight.
ABORTION: Thousands of abortion opponents gathered on the Capitol steps yesterday on the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision to mark the increase in abortions as Minnesota becomes an island for access in the region. The court’s reversal of Roe in 2022 helped propel Democrats to narrow majorities in the Minnesota Legislature in the midterm election, which they used to pass historic protections for abortion rights into law last spring. Abortion opponents and supporters both say more is coming in the 2024 session, including the potential for a ballot initiative to add abortion protections to the state Constitution.
MILITARY: Military families can receive help with child care costs of up to $1,800 per child under a new Department of Defense initiative, reports Rochelle Olson. The program expands child care options through a fee assistance program to families without child care on the site of their military assignment. Unlike some other states, Minnesota has no military bases, which often have their own on-site care, Olson writes.
