Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger joins former President Barack Obama during a campaign event in Norfolk, Virginia, on November 1, 2025.
Steve Herber | AP Photo
Former President Barack Obama is encouraging voters to elect Democrats to be governors of Virginia and New Jersey in Tuesday’s elections, a move that could signal the national mood 10 months into President Donald Trump’s second term and a year before midterm elections that could reshape the administration.
Obama’s appearances by Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill on Saturday are in contrast to Trump, who spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, and Republicans Winsome Earl Sears of Virginia and Jack Ciatarelli of New Jersey, who were set to campaign.
At the same time, advocates in California were making the final push ahead of a statewide referendum on whether to redraw the state’s congressional maps in favor of Democrats. The effort, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, is part of a nationwide redistricting battle that began when President Trump called on Republican-run states to help maintain a friendly House majority in 2026.
At an afternoon rally in Norfolk, President Obama praised Spanberger, a former congressman and CIA case officer, as a hard worker who will improve Virginia’s economic situation and quality of life. Still, during his 30-plus minutes on stage, he focused on denouncing Trump’s “lawlessness and recklessness” and “shoddy” economic policies, and urged voters to “set a shining example for the nation” by scolding Trump and candidates loyal to him.
“The stakes are now clear,” President Obama said. “You don’t have to speculate about the dangers to our democracy. You don’t have to ask yourself how crude and vile our culture can become. Elections matter, and elections matter to you.”
President Obama was scheduled to appear in Newark with Cheryl on Saturday night.
Earl Sears, now Virginia’s lieutenant governor, and Ciatarelli, a former state representative, each had busy schedules to compete with the Democratic Party’s large rally. Ciatarelli’s sharpest closing argument was a nod to Sherrill’s frequent attacks on Trump, peppered with his experience as a Navy helicopter pilot.
“She despises the president. And she can fly a helicopter. Will that fix New Jersey?” Ciatarelli said Saturday outside Westfield.
Trump is not present, but is participating in the conversation.
President Trump endorsed Ciatarelli and said he would support her candidacy in Virginia, without mentioning Earl Sears by name. The president held a telephone meeting with Mr. Ciattarelli. He has not directly campaigned for either candidate.
On Friday night, President Trump attended a rally at his South Florida resort themed “The Little Party Didn’t Kill Nobody.” On Saturday, he will head to Trump International Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida, to attend a dinner hosted by MAGA Inc., a super PAC founded by allies. The president is scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday.
This reflects the Republican Party’s tightrope walking. Mr. Trump remains deeply popular among the most conservative voters, but his standing with the rest of the electorate is more volatile.
Earl Sears was leading Republican get-out-the-vote rallies Saturday in small, heavily Republican towns, first in Abingdon in southwestern Virginia and then in Purcellville in the state’s northernmost tip near the Pennsylvania border.
Ciattarelli was on a bus tour promising to “fix New Jersey.” At Westfield, Mr. Ciatarelli spent about an hour shaking hands and posing for selfies with voters and discussing proposals to lower energy costs and property taxes. His campaign also highlighted his family’s deep roots in the state and argued it was time for a “Jersey guy” to lead the state. Cheryl was born in Virginia. Some supporters wore red baseball caps that read “Make New Jersey Great Again,” a nod to President Trump’s national slogan “MAGA.”
Both Sherrill and Spanberger are among the center-left Democrats who helped the party win a House majority in 2018 during President Trump’s first presidency. While Mr. Sherrill has sharpened his criticisms of Mr. Trump this fall, Mr. Spanberger has carefully constructed economic arguments to criticize Mr. Trump’s policies. She has become more wary of his moves to overturn democratic norms.
“Virginia voters can and will send a message amidst the recklessness and callousness coming out of Washington,” he said ahead of President Obama’s speech. She criticized the “political turmoil coming out of Washington right now” and introduced Obama by remembering “not that long ago…when we had a president…who tried to unite us instead of tearing us apart.”
Still, Spanberger’s biggest ad investments are in spots that try to link Earl Sears to Trump, according to AdImpact data.
Economy and shutdowns cast a shadow on gubernatorial race
Spanberger and Sherrill both pledged to tackle rising consumer costs and criticized President Trump for failing to lower prices as promised during his 2024 campaign. But in New Jersey, where outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy has led the state for two terms, Ciatarelli blamed Democrats for rising energy costs.
Democratic candidates blasted Republicans’ federal domestic policies and tax cuts. In Virginia, Spanberger on Saturday reiterated his criticism of the Trump administration’s Office of Government Efficiency and the ongoing federal government shutdown. Both have a disproportionate impact in states with more than 300,000 federal employees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Earl Sears tried to pin the blame for the government shutdown on Spanberger, arguing that the former congressman should use his influence with Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators. Both men voted against the GOP’s spending extension bill as Democrats demand that Republicans act on pressing health care cuts.
Additionally, this contest may provide some clues as to whether social issues matter less to voters than in previous elections. Mr. Spanberger and Mr. Sherrill have expressed support for abortion rights, and Mr. Spanberger has done so in the last state in the South not to impose new restrictions or bans in recent years. Earl Sears fired back by focusing on transgender policy, criticizing Spanberger as extreme, similar to how President Trump used the issue against Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.
Democrats need high black turnout
President Obama’s last-minute push underscores how popular the 64-year-old remains among Democrats after more than eight years out of the White House. But it highlights the reality that while Republicans control every lever of federal power, Democratic governors and top legislative leaders are trying to become national celebrities.
The trip also highlights the pressure on the Democratic Party to maximize its diverse coalition in 2024 after President Trump chipped away at the party’s lead among Black and Hispanic voters. Both sites Saturday gave birth to the nation’s first black president in areas where black turnout is key to Democratic victory. Although Trump lost Virginia and New Jersey, he narrowed the gap from his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden in both states. Republicans believe New Jersey in particular is ripe for continuing that trend.
President Obama gave a nod to the campaign on Saturday, saying President Trump believes the country’s ills are because of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs and that minorities “need to take their place.”
California will have an immediate and medium-term impact
While the results in Virginia and New Jersey are just signposts for the 2026 midterm elections, California will have the most immediate impact. Voters are deciding whether to bypass a bipartisan redistricting commission and approve a new congressional map aimed at sending five more Democrats to Washington to counter a new Texas map drawn to benefit Republicans.
Other states are pushing for new maps as well. Republicans started this Congress with a slim 220-215 advantage in the House, meaning a few seats could decide whether President Trump enjoys full Republican control in Washington for the rest of his presidency or faces a new Democratic majority.
