Obama rallies Virginia and New Jersey in weekend campaign push before Election Day

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NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is encouraging voters to elect Democrats as governor in Virginia and New Jersey in elections this Tuesday that could signal the national mood 10 months into Donald Trump’s second presidency and a year ahead of midterm elections that could reshape it.

Obama's Saturday appearances 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 were making 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 keep a friendly House majority in 2026.

At an afternoon rally in Norfolk, Obama praised Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA case officer, as a hard worker who would improve Virginians' financial circumstances and quality of life. Yet he focused much of his half-hour-plus on stage lambasting Trump for “lawlessness and recklessness” and “shambolic” economic policy, while urging voters to “set a glorious example for the nation” by rebuking Trump and nominees loyal to him.

“The stakes are now clear,” Obama said. “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 was scheduled to appear Saturday evening in Newark with Sherrill.

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

“Her disdain for the president. And she can fly a helicopter. Is any of that going to fix new Jersey?” Ciattarelli said Saturday in suburban Westfield.

Trump endorsed Ciattarelli and has said — without naming Earle-Sears — that he backs her Virginia bid. The president conducted a phone rally for Ciattarelli. He 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, Fla., 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.

That reflects Republicans' tightrope: Trump remains intensely popular among the most conservative voters but has a more precarious standing with the rest of the electorate.

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’s northernmost reaches near the Pennsylvania border.

Ciattarelli was on a bus tour promising to “Fix New Jersey.” In Westfield, Ciattarelli shook voters’ 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’s deep roots in the state and argued it’s time for a “Jersey guy” to lead the state. Sherrill was born in Virginia. Some of the supporters wore red baseball caps that said “Make New Jersey Great Again,” a nod to Trump's national “MAGA” slogan.

Sherrill and Spanberger were both among the center-left Democrats who helped their party win a House majority in 2018 during Trump's first presidency. Sherrill has been more pointed in her Trump critiques this fall, while Spanberger has carefully crafted economic arguments to criticize Trump's policies. She has been more circumspect about his moves to 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's address. 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 investments has gone to spots that try to tie Earle-Sears to Trump.

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.

The Democratic candidates have blasted the Republicans' federal domestic policy and tax cut bill. In Virginia, Spanberger on Saturday repeated her criticisms of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency and the ongoing federal shutdown — 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.

Earle-Sears has tried to pin 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 counters with a focus on transgender policies, framing Spanberger as extreme, just as Trump used the issue against Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.

Obama’s last-minute push affirms how popular the 64-year-old remains among Democrats more than eight years removed from the White House. Yet it underscores the reality of Republicans holding all levers of federal power, while a cadre of Democratic governors and lawmakers try to become national figures.

The visit also highlights pressure on Democrats to maximize their diverse coalition after Trump chipped away in 2024 at Democrats’ advantages among Black and Hispanic voters. Both venues Saturday put the nation’s first Black president in areas where Black turnout is key to Democratic victories. Trump lost Virginia and New Jersey but narrowed the margins in both states from his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Republicans believe New Jersey, especially, is ripe to continue that trend.

Obama nodded to race Saturday, saying Trump blames diversity, equity and inclusion programs for the nation's ills and believes minority factions “need to be put in their place.”

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.

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.

—- Barrow reported from Atlanta. Catalini reported from Newark. Associated Press reporter Aamer Madhani contributed from West Palm Beach, Florida.