Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who's competing against President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nomination, will fight states where he's been omitted from the ballot.
Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee left Phillips and all other challengers to Biden off their ballots.
Phillips will file challenges with the Democratic National Committee and the respective state parties next week, Semafor reported.
"Unilaterally taking away the right of rank-and-file Democrats, including a disproportionate number of Black voters demanding a more affordable America, is reprehensible," Phillips said in a statement to Semafor.
"If Joe Biden is the best candidate to defeat [former President] Donald Trump and lead us to a safer, more affordable future, let him compete for that privilege without his supporters suppressing and disenfranchising millions of voters."
Officials from the Phillips campaign and the DNC in Washington met on Thursday to discuss primary rules.
Phillips last week accused Florida Democrats of disenfranchising voters in the state after they voted in October to submit only Biden's name to the secretary of state's office before a Nov. 30 deadline, CNN reported.
The party's vote meant that Florida appeared ready to hold no presidential primary election for Democrats this cycle.
"Americans would expect the absence of democracy in Tehran, not Tallahassee," Phillips said in a statement to Politico. "The intentional disenfranchisement of voters runs counter to everything for which our Democratic Party and country stand. Our mission as Democrats is to defeat authoritarians, not become them."
Author Marianne Williamson and media figure Cenk Uygur, who also are running in the Democratic Party primary field, also were left off the Florida ballot. They held a joint Zoom call to slam the state's Democrats.
Phillips on Tuesday submitted more than 3,000 signatures for inclusion on Tennessee's ballot.
On the same day, Tennessee's secretary of state announced that only Biden will appear on the ballot, though Phillips might make it, pending a review of the signatures, Semafor reported.
On Dec. 1, North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton sent a letter to the state board of elections, listing only Biden "for the 2024 Democratic Primary ballot."
North Carolina and Tennessee will hold their primaries on March 5, Super Tuesday.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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