Tag: CD3

Rep.-Elect Dean Phillips Announces “Representation Begins with Listening” Town Hall

Phillips makes good on campaign promise with first free, open-to-the-public town hall meeting as a Congressman-elect for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District

EXCELSIOR, MN — Rep.-Elect Dean Phillips today announced that he will hold his first public town hall meeting since being elected on Monday, December 17th at Oak Grove Elementary School in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Phillips’s campaign for Congress was based on the idea that representation begins with listening, and in addition to appearing at well over 120 public events over the course of his campaign — including dozens of town-hall style events — he committed to holding free, open-to-the-public town hall meetings at least quarterly while in office.

In his remarks on election night, Phillips promised to hold his first town hall before even being sworn into office, which elicited cheers and applause from the crowd. Here are the details:

WHAT:  “Representation Begins With Listening” Town Hall Meeting
WHO:  Free and open to the public
WHEN:  Monday, December 17, 2018,  6:30 PM
WHERE:  Oak Grove Middle School, 1301 West 104th Street, Bloomington, MN

Will the Congressional Progressive Caucus become the Freedom Caucus of the left?

The new, 235-member strong Democratic majority set to take power in the U.S. House of Representatives in January will be, on average, the most progressive Democratic ruling faction on Capitol Hill in decades — or ever.

The party’s left flank is further to the left than ever: Democrats’ most celebrated freshmen, upstarts like Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are vowing to push for single-payer health care and other left-wing policies. Meanwhile, the Democrats to their right, like Rep.-elect Dean Phillips, unabashedly defend the Affordable Care Act, gun control, and other liberal priorities. The pro-gun, sometimes pro-life conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats who populated Democrats’ last House majority from 2007 to 2011 are all but extinct.

Progressives finally have a fresh chance to govern in D.C., and the Congressional Progressive Caucus is aiming to make it as successful as possible. The decades-old faction of the most left-leaning Democrats — most recently co-chaired by outgoing Rep. Keith Ellison — was, over the last eight years of Republican control of the House, a group of a few dozen liberals that slowly increased its clout in Congress as Democrats languished in the minority.

View the complete December 4 article by Sam Brodey on the MinnPost.com website here.

Dean Phillips Ready To Take Over 3rd District

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — One of the biggest wins this last election was the double-digit victory by businessman Dean Phillips over five-term incumbent Representative Erik Paulsen.

Phillips beat Paulsen by 11 percentage points and says he is ready to champion a progressive agenda for Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District.

Defeating a long-term incumbent Congressman is never easy, but businessman and philanthropist Dean Phillips handily beat Congressman Erik Paulsen in the November midterm elections. Phillips will represent Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses the western suburbs of Minneapolis.

View the complete December 2 article by Esme Murphy on the WCCO TV website here.

Federal leaders need to renew fund

On Sept. 30, a vital source of funding for Minnesota’s public lands expired. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has provided over $245 million to Minnesota’s parks and public lands, taking the burden off of Minnesota’s taxpayers. The LWCF takes revenue from offshore oil drilling and invests it in the shared spaces that help make Minnesota special.

A piece of the fund was set aside to complete a Boundary Waters land swap — that swap would provided better protection for the still-patchwork Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness while providing direct property tax relief for Minnesotans. Now that may never happen.

There is still time to revive the LWCF, though. We’re lucky to have supporters like Sen. Tina Smith helping push for LWCF, but we need Rep. Erik Paulsen’s support as well. Ask federal politicians if they know what the fund is — and whether or not they want to revive it.

Molly Muth, Minneapolis
Lakeshore Weekly News, November 23, 2018

I’m eager to see change in Washington

To the Editor:

Congratulations Congressional District 3! I now have my first Democratic Congressman EVER. Plymouth has held a Republican seat since 1961, but now it is held by Dean Phillips. Dean Phillips won this by taking zero PAC dollars. None. Not one. Therefore, he can go to Washington and represent me and not the NRA or other PACs who used to represent me through Erik Paulsen (now defeated). I am eager for this to help change the tone in our government. We need people to listen to each other and to compromise and work both sides of the aisle. I expect Dean Phillips to spearhead this movement, and that is the only way the Democrats can continue to succeed, in my opinion.

Kerry Anderson, Plymouth
Plymouth Sun-Sailor, November 12, 2018

Dean Phillips Wins in Minnesota 3rd District

Phillips will be the first Democrat to represent the district since 1960

EXCELSIOR, MN – Dean Phillips won the closely watched race for US Congress in Minnesota’s Third District today by an impressive  56 to 44 margin, with 99% of precincts reporting. Phillips addressed more than 700 volunteers and supporters who gathered at the campaign’s election night celebration.

Prepared Remarks:

“We demonstrated that by working together, engaging in conversation with our neighbors, and listening to those whose life experiences and perspectives differ from our own – we CAN overcome hatred, divisiveness and tribalism and begin the work of repairing our faults – as a nation and as individuals.

Yet winning an election is not enough.  We have serious and hard work to 

do to repair our politics, to end the culture of corruption in Washington, to bring people back together and make meaningful progress on the major challenges facing this country. That will be my mission every single day in Congress. But I cannot do it alone.

Continue reading “Dean Phillips Wins in Minnesota 3rd District”

Phillips represents regular voters

The source of campaign contributions is a trustworthy indicator of who will truly represent residents of the 3rd Congressional District: incumbent Erik Paulsen or his challenger Dean Phillips.

Paulsen currently occupies the eye-popping rank of No. 4 among reps who have accepted the most PAC money. That’s right — of 435 U.S. House reps, only three take more outside money than Erik Paulsen. He’s raked in over $2.6 million from political action committees. PACs are funded primarily by corporations and billionaires outside our district, and exist for one reason only: to influence elections and legislation.

Dean Phillips? Zero PAC money. Sixty-seven thousand individual contributors, donating an average of $33 each, have provided 100 percent of his campaign funds. And that’s who Phillips will listen to before casting votes in Congress: his constituents. The lion’s share of Paulsen’s votes, on the other hand, reflect the interests of the outside parties that pour money into his campaign coffers. Continue reading “Phillips represents regular voters”