Born in Washington, D.C., Phifer is a graduate of Cornell College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and history in 1977.
[4] Her preaching career included a five-year stint in Montevideo, Uruguay under a dictatorship, an experience which she said gave her "an understanding of the dangers of authoritarianism, which is what I see in the [Republican] party right now".
[2] Along with her criticism of Donald Trump, Phifer ran on a platform of expanding Medicaid, improving public education, and supporting gun control and social justice issues such as women's and LGBTQ rights.
[2] In 2020, Phifer defeated her Republican opponent in the general election for Missouri's 90th state House district.
[2][4][10][3] Phifer had no opponents in the Democratic primary elections for the Missouri House of Representatives, winning the party nomination by default each time.