Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., gestures while addressing a gathering during a campaign stop, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Manchester, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

DERRY — Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips was spotted earlier in the day shaking the hands of poll workers and voters at a school gymnasium in Derry.

The Minnesota congressman entered the race in October in an event outside New Hampshire’s statehouse, saying, “It is time for the torch to be passed to a new generation of American leaders.”

Phillips is highly unlikely to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination away from Biden, even if the president suffers an embarrassing loss Tuesday in a state where he’s not even on the ballot. Still, his run offers a symbolic challenge to national Democrats trying to project the idea that there is no reason to doubt the president’s electability.

Self-help author Marianne Williamson is also seeking the Democratic nomination.