NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is encouraging voters to elect Democratic governors in Virginia and New Jersey in races this Tuesday to rebuke Donald Trump 10 months into his second presidency and a year ahead of midterm elections that could reshape it.
Obama's appearances Saturday for Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill contrast with Trump spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, leaving Republicans Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia and Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey to campaign for themselves.
At the same time, California advocates made a final push ahead of a statewide referendum over whether to redraw the state’s congressional map in Democrats’ 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 maintain a friendly House majority in 2026.
Obama praised Spanberger and Sherrill, center-left Democrats who helped their party win a U.S. House majority halfway through Trump's first presidency, as experienced figures who would improve voters' financial circumstances. Yet Obama, who remains Democrats' most popular figure nearly nine years removed from the White House, spent much of his time during separate rallies lambasting Trump for “lawlessness and recklessness” and “shambolic” economic policy. Obama urged voters to “set a glorious example for the nation” by rejecting nominees loyal to a president with “autocratic impulses.”
“The stakes are now clear,” Obama said in Virginia. “We don't need to speculate about the dangers to our democracy. We don't need to ask ourselves how much more coarse and mean our culture can become. Elections matter, and they matter to you.”
Obama took care not to blame voters who backed Trump in 2024 because of inflation and a roiled economy. But, he asked in New Jersey, “Has any of that gotten better for you?”
In some ways, it was standard partisan fare in the closing stretch of a campaign. Yet it stood out as an unusually intense rebuke of a sitting president by a predecessor and because Republicans offered little defense of Trump in their own campaign stops Saturday, instead trying to localize the off-year elections as much as possible.
On a bus tour across New Jersey, Ciattarelli referenced the president mostly to chide Sherrill for mentioning him so much, along with her experience as a Navy helicopter pilot.
“Her disdain for the president. And she can fly a helicopter. Is any of that going to fix New Jersey?” Ciattarelli said in suburban Westfield.
Earle-Sears did not mention Trump at all as she campaigned with term-limited Gov. Glenn Youngkin. “We are not going back,” she said, arguing for conservative continuity in Purcellville. “There's only darkness back there. Abigail Spanberger represents the darkness.”
Trump isn't on site, but he's been in the conversation
Trump endorsed Ciattarelli and has said — without naming Earle-Sears — that he backs her Virginia bid. He conducted a phone rally for Ciattarelli but has not campaigned in person for either nominee.
On Friday evening in south Florida, Trump attended a shindig at his resort with the theme “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.” 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.
Trump's 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.
Some of their supporters greeted Ciattarelli and Earle-Sears wearing red “Make America Great Again" hats from Trump's campaigns. But the nominees stayed focused on state policies.
In suburban Westfield, Ciattarelli 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’s deep roots in the state and argued it’s time for a “Jersey guy” as governor. Sherrill was born in Virginia.
In multiple small-town stops, Earle-Sears promised to lower taxes, defend parents' ability to shape education policy and stave off unions and business regulations. “I'm for common sense,” she said in northern Virginia.
She has previously embraced Trump, while Ciattarelli has played up his good relationship with the White House.
Two Democrats take slightly different approaches to Trump
As she has been throughout the fall, Sherrill did not shy away from Trump and the national stakes.
“When everything seems to come down to our election, when people across the nation, look at me with fear and despair in their eyes and ask me, is New Jersey up for this moment? My answer was, ‘Hell yeah,’” she said in Newark.
Spanberger kept to her more circumspect style regarding Trump, pairing economic arguments against his policies with more opaque references to the president's moves that upend democratic norms.
“Virginia voters can and will send a message amid the recklessness and the heartlessness coming out of Washington,” she said ahead of Obama. She criticized “the political turmoil coming out of Washington right now” and introduced Obama by recalling “a time not that long ago ... when we had a president ... who worked to bring us together instead of tearing us apart.”
Still, according to AdImpact data, Spanberger's biggest advertising expenses are for spots that try to tie Earle-Sears to Trump.
The economy and shutdown overshadow the governor's races
Spanberger and Sherrill have both pledged to tackle rising consumer costs. 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.
The Democrats have blasted Republicans' federal domestic policy and tax cut bill. Spanberger on Saturday criticized Trump's Department of Government Efficiency and the ongoing federal shutdown — both of which have a disproportionate impact in a state with more than 300,000 federal employees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Earle-Sears has pinned the shutdown on Spanberger, arguing the former congresswoman should use her leverage with Virginia's Democratic U.S. senators. Both have voted against the GOP's spending extension bill as Democrats demand Republicans address looming health care cuts.
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 did not mention her opposition to abortion rights Saturday but has said repeatedly that Spanberger in an extremist on transgender rights — attacks similar to those that Trump wielded effectively against Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.
___ Barrow reported from Atlanta. Catalini reported from Newark. Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
