Rep. Dean Phillips Slams Florida Democrats After Leaving Him Off Presidential Primary Ballot

Rep. Dean Phillips, (D-Minnesota), who is challenging President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary, has accused Florida Democrats of depriving voters in the state of their rights.

This comes after he and other candidates were left off of the official candidates’ list.

The Florida Democrats decided at their state party convention in October to exclusively propose Biden’s name to the secretary of state before the November 30 cutoff.

According to a spokesperson from the Florida Democratic Party, no other names were considered or voted upon by the committee. Under the state’s regulations, if a candidate is running unopposed in a primary, there is no need to include the contest on the ballot.

In a statement, Phillips said, “Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee.” He added that depriving voters of their rights “runs counter to everything for which our Democratic Party and country stand.”

Florida Democrats claim that they adhered to the usual procedure for selecting candidates.

At the state party convention held between October 27 and 29, the state executive committee voted to propose Biden as a candidate for the ballot, and no alternative names were suggested.

The party’s representative stated that a similar voting process occurred during the October 2019 state party convention to choose the names for the primary ballot in 2020.

A representative from the DNC mentioned that their delegate selection team made an offer to assist the Phillips campaign in dealing with the ballot access procedure, but Phillips’ team declined the offer.

Phillips urged Biden and other individuals to denounce Florida Democrats’ decision.