Dean Phillips
Dean Benson Phillips[1] (né Pfefer; born January 20, 1969)[2] is an American businessman, politician, and former candidate for the 2024 Democratic Party presidential nomination who has served as the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd congressional district since 2019.[3] Phillips's district encompasses the western suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Bloomington, Minnetonka, Edina, Maple Grove, Plymouth, and Eden Prairie. A member of the Democratic Party, Phillips has both owned and started several companies in addition to serving as president and CEO of his family's liquor business, the Phillips Distilling Company.[4][5][6] He is the former co-owner of Talenti gelato and co-owns Penny's Coffee. On November 24, 2023, Phillips announced that he would not run for reelection to his congressional seat.[7]
Dean Phillips
2
Pauline Phillips (grandmother)
Jeanne Phillips (aunt)
First elected in 2018, Phillips defeated six-term Republican incumbent Erik Paulsen.[8] By flipping the previously Republican district, he became the first Democrat to win the seat since 1958. He has since been reelected twice by comfortable margins. Phillips is a Democrat who has consistently voted in support of President Joe Biden's positions. With a net worth of $77 million in 2018, Phillips is one of the wealthiest members of Congress.[9] He unsuccessfully challenged Biden for the Democratic nomination in the 2024 presidential election.[10][11]
Early life, education, and career[edit]
Phillips was born to DeeDee (Cohen) and Artie Pfefer in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1969.[12] His biological father was killed in the Vietnam War six months after Phillips was born. His mother married Eddie Phillips, heir to the Phillips Distilling Company and the son of advice columnist Pauline Phillips (popularly known as Dear Abby),[13] in 1972. Eddie adopted Dean, who took the last name Phillips.[14] He was raised Jewish.[15]
In the early 1970s, Phillips moved from Saint Paul to Edina. He attended The Blake School.[16]
Phillips graduated from Brown University in 1991 and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He worked for bicycle equipment and apparel company InMotion for two years, and then joined his family's company's corporate office. He later completed his Master of Business Administration at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management in 2000. After graduation, he was named the president and CEO of his family's organization, Phillips Distilling Company.[13]
Phillips served as the company's president and CEO from 2000 to 2012. He then stepped aside to run one of his other corporate investments, Talenti gelato, until it was sold for an undisclosed amount to Unilever in 2014.[17] In 2016 he founded Penny's Coffee, a coffeeshop chain he still owns, which has two locations in the Twin Cities metropolitan area as of 2022.[17]
Personal life[edit]
Phillips is married and has two daughters from a previous marriage. He is Jewish[44] and was acknowledged by the Minnesota publication The American Jewish World for serving on the board of Temple Israel in Minneapolis.[45]
Phillips's adoptive paternal grandmother Pauline Phillips was the author of the advice column "Dear Abby", under the pen name Abigail Van Buren.[46]