Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips is challenging his exclusion from Wisconsin’s primary ballot, with the state Supreme Court Thursday asking state election officials to respond to his criticisms.
Phillips, a Minnesota congressman who is challenging President Joe Biden, was not put forward by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin last month to be placed on the April primary ballot. Nor was author Marianne Williamson, who has also launched a primary campaign as a Democrat.
Instead of allowing elections officials to decide who gets on Wisconsin's presidential ballot, a committee of state party leaders and top legislators convene to formally approve names. That decision is then largely rubber stamped by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
The standard under state law calls for all candidates to be placed on the ballot who are “generally advocated or recognized in the national news media throughout the United States on the ballot,” as well as anyone else the parties see fit to put forward.
Phillips' campaign is arguing that his candidacy meets this criteria. He has received national media attention for his challenge to Biden, as well as backing from other prominent figures, such as former presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Phillips received over 24,000 votes in the New Hampshire primary last week, good for 19% of the vote and a second place finish, although he finished well behind Biden.
There is still an avenue for Phillips to get on the ballot, but it would involve collecting between 1,000 and 1,500 signatures in each congressional district and submitting those to the Elections Commission by the end of the month.
Phillips’ campaign said doing so would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and would ultimately be a burden.
“Wisconsin voters subsidize the Wisconsin Democratic Party’s primary election, and they deserve a true primary, in which they are free to vote for the same nationally recognized candidates who are appearing on other states’ ballots,” the lawsuit said. “Petitioner should not have to waste resources to circulate petitions and gather signatures, when the Wisconsin Legislature has determined that he and other ‘generally advocated or recognized’ candidates should be spared that expense.”
The lawsuit alleges that Jeff Weaver, a senior adviser to Phillips’ campaign, had a phone call with Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and the party’s executive director, Cassi Fenili and that Fenili “provided no indication that Petitioner would not be included in the WisDem’s list of Primary candidates.”
It also points to two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, with similar statutes as Wisconsin, with Phillips appearing on the ballot in both states.
Phillips’ campaign is asking the court to order the Elections Commission to provide clerks with a list of candidates that includes his name, arguing it did something similar during the 1992 presidential primary when white supremacist David Duke sought to get on the Republican primary ballot.
A spokesperson for the Democratic Party declined comment, while a spokesperson for the Elections Commission did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court asked the commission to respond to the lawsuit by Wednesday, which is also the deadline for any other group seeking to be heard in the matter to file a motion with the court. It has not yet committed to taking up the case.
Not including challengers to an incumbent president is not unusual in Wisconsin. Republicans opted against including two rivals of former President Donald Trump in the 2020 primary. Then-President Barack Obama also ran unopposed in the 2012 Democratic primary.
Despite Phillips’ performance in New Hampshire, he vowed to continue his candidacy in each state that votes between now and the Democratic National Convention later this year.
His campaign has also asked a federal judge to allow Phillips on the ballot in Florida, after leaders of that state’s Democratic Party voted unanimously to put forward only Biden’s name.
