{"id":265845,"date":"2025-11-01T23:28:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T23:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/265845\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T23:28:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T23:28:12","slug":"obama-campaigns-in-new-jersey-virginia-before-election-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/265845\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama campaigns in New Jersey, Virginia before Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama<\/a> is encouraging voters to elect Democrats as governor in Virginia and New Jersey<\/a> in races this Tuesday that could signal the national mood 10 months into Donald Trump\u2019s second presidency and a year ahead of midterm elections that could reshape it.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s appearances on Saturday for Abigail Spanberger<\/a> and Mikie Sherrill<\/a> contrast with Trump spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, leaving Republicans Winsome Earle-Sears<\/a> in Virginia and Jack Ciattarelli<\/a> in New Jersey to campaign for themselves. <\/p>\n

At the same time, California advocates were making a final push ahead of a statewide referendum over whether to redraw the state\u2019s congressional map in Democrats\u2019 favor. The effort backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom is part of a national redistricting battle that began when Trump urged GOP-run states to help him keep a friendly House majority in 2026.<\/p>\n

At an afternoon rally in Norfolk, Obama praised Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA case officer, as a hard worker who would improve Virginians\u2019 financial circumstances and quality of life. Yet he focused much of his half-hour-plus on stage lambasting Trump for \u201clawlessness and recklessness\u201d and \u201cshambolic\u201d economic policy, while urging voters to \u201cset a glorious example for the nation\u201d by rebuking Trump and nominees loyal to him. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Republican<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe stakes are now clear,\u201d said Obama, who remains Democrats\u2019 most popular national figure. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to speculate about the dangers to our democracy. We don\u2019t need to ask ourselves how much more coarse and mean our culture can become. Elections matter, and they matter to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obama was scheduled to appear Saturday evening in Newark with Sherrill. <\/p>\n

Earle-Sears, currently Virginia\u2019s lieutenant governor, and Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker, had busy schedules of their own to counter Democrats\u2019 large rallies. Ciatarelli\u2019s sharpest closing arguments nodded to Sherrill\u2019s ubiquitous inclusion of her experience as a Navy helicopter pilot and her frequent attacks on Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer disdain for the president. And she can fly a helicopter. Is any of that going to fix New Jersey?\u201d Ciattarelli said Saturday in suburban Westfield. <\/p>\n

Trump isn\u2019t on site, but he\u2019s been in the conversation<\/p>\n

Trump endorsed Ciattarelli and has said \u2014 without naming Earle-Sears \u2014 that he backs her Virginia bid. The president conducted a phone rally for Ciattarelli. He has not campaigned in person for either nominee.<\/p>\n

On Friday evening in south Florida, Trump attended a shindig at his resort with the theme \u201cA Little Party Never Killed Nobody.\u201d On Saturday, he headed to Trump International Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida, and is scheduled to attend a dinner for MAGA, Inc., a super PAC founded by allies. The president is due to return to Washington on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s arms-length approach reflects a complicated reality for Republicans: He remains intensely popular among the most conservative voters but has a more precarious standing with the rest of the electorate. <\/p>\n

Earle-Sears was leading GOP turnout rallies Saturday in Republican-rich small towns, first in Abingdon in the southwest corner of Virginia, then in Purcellville, in the state\u2019s northernmost reaches near the Pennsylvania border. <\/p>\n

Ciattarelli was on a bus tour promising to \u201cFix New Jersey.\u201d In Westfield, Ciattarelli shook voters\u2019 hands and took selfies for about an hour and talked about proposals to lower energy costs and property taxes, among other ideas. His campaign also has concentrated on his family\u2019s deep roots in the state and argued it\u2019s time for a \u201cJersey guy\u201d to lead the state. Sherrill was born in Virginia. Some of the supporters wore red baseball caps that said \u201cMake New Jersey Great Again,\u201d a nod to Trump\u2019s national \u201cMAGA\u201d slogan.<\/p>\n

Sherrill and Spanberger were both among the center-left Democrats who helped their party win a House majority in 2018 during Trump\u2019s first presidency. Sherrill has been more pointed in her Trump critiques this fall, while Spanberger has carefully crafted economic arguments to criticize Trump\u2019s policies. She has been more circumspect about his moves to upend democratic norms. <\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia voters can and will send a message amid the recklessness and the heartlessness coming out of Washington,\u201d she said ahead of Obama\u2019s address. She criticized \u201cthe political turmoil coming out of Washington right now\u201d and introduced Obama by recalling \u201ca time not that long ago … when we had a president … who worked to bring us together instead of tearing us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, according to AdImpact data, Spanberger\u2019s biggest advertising investments has gone to spots that try to tie Earle-Sears to Trump.<\/p>\n

The economy and shutdown overshadow the governor\u2019s races<\/p>\n

Spanberger and Sherrill have both pledged to tackle rising consumer costs and blasted Trump for failing to reduce prices as he promised in the 2024 campaign. In New Jersey, however, Ciattarelli has blamed Democrats for higher energy costs because outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy has been leading the state for two terms.<\/p>\n

The Democratic candidates have blasted the Republicans\u2019 federal domestic policy and tax cut bill. In Virginia, Spanberger on Saturday repeated her criticisms of Trump\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency and the ongoing federal shutdown \u2014 both of which have a disproportionate impact in a state that has more than 300,000 federal employees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.<\/p>\n

Earle-Sears has tried to pin the shutdown on Spanberger, arguing the former congresswoman should use her leverage with Virginia\u2019s Democratic U.S. senators. Both have voted against the GOP\u2019s spending extension bill as Democrats demand Republicans address looming health care cuts. <\/p>\n

Additionally, the contests could offer some clues as to whether social issues carry any less weight with voters than in previous elections. Spanberger and Sherrill herald their support for abortion rights, Spanberger doing so in the last Southern state not to impose new restrictions or bans in recent years. Earle-Sears counters with a focus on transgender policies, framing Spanberger as extreme, just as Trump used the issue against Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.<\/p>\n

California will have an immediate midterm impact <\/p>\n

While results in Virginia and New Jersey will be mere guideposts for the 2026 midterms, California stands to have the most immediate impact. Voters there are deciding whether to override a nonpartisan redistricting commission and approve a new congressional map intended to send five more Democrats to Washington, countering a new Texas map drawn for GOP gains. <\/p>\n

Other states are pushing new maps, as well. Republicans began the current Congress with just a 220-215 advantage in the House, meaning a few seats could determine whether Trump enjoys outright GOP control in Washington for the duration of his presidency or faces a new Democratic majority. <\/p>\n

___ Barrow reported from Atlanta. Catalini reported from Newark. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NORFOLK, Va. (AP) \u2014 Former President Barack Obama is encouraging voters to elect Democrats as governor in Virginia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[51932,23,8833,2356,12,1070,2013,793,3138,103271,5744,90155,1997,3,51493,111,8638,795,3438,21,19,22,20,25,24,5148,800],"class_list":["post-265845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-abigail-spanberger","tag-america","tag-barack-obama","tag-california","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-gavin-newsom","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-jack-ciattarelli","tag-kamala-harris","tag-mikie-sherrill","tag-new-jersey","tag-news","tag-phil-murphy","tag-politics","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-virginia","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}