Obama endorses Sherrill and Spanberger in only 2025 gubernatorial races

Former President Barack Obama has officially endorsed both Democratic candidates running in the state’s only pair of gubernatorial elections this cycle, following the tradition of the former president holding his endorsement cards close to his chest in the run-up to the election.

“Mickey’s integrity, determination, and commitment to service are what we need in our leaders now,” Obama said in a video endorsement released Friday by New Jersey Democratic Rep. Mickey Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign. “Mickey Sherrill is the right choice for your next governor.”

“Mickey M will lower costs for New Jersey families,” Obama continued in the ad. “As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe.”

New Jersey and Virginia are the only states holding gubernatorial elections in the off-season election year of 2025, with Sherrill and former Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger as the only Democrats running.

Obama endorses Spanberger and attacks Republicans in ads for Virginia governor’s race

Obama endorsed Spanberger on Thursday, in a pair of ads that also targeted Republicans for “attacking abortion rights.”

“Virginia’s elections are some of the most important in the country this year. We know that Republicans will continue to attack abortion rights and women’s rights. That’s why having the right governor is important, and I’m proud to endorse Abigail Spanberger,” Obama said in an announcement endorsing the Democratic candidate for Virginia.

“Republican policies raise costs for working families so billionaires can get massive tax cuts,” he said in another ad endorsing Spanberger.

After Obama endorsed Spanberger, the Republican challenger in the race, the campaign of current Virginia Governor Winsome Earl Sears told Fox Digital on Thursday: “Abigail Spanberger is scared, and it shows.”

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“After losing support across Virginia, she is counting on liberal elites to try to salvage her crumbling campaign,” said Peyton Vogel, Earl Sears’ press secretary. “This is a desperate play from a candidate who is out of support, out of ideas, out of time. Voters realize that, which is why Winsome Earl Sears is on the rise.”

The campaign of Republican Jack Ciattarelli of New Jersey also criticized Obama’s endorsement in a commentary for Fox News Digital Friday.

“If there’s anything that highlights the lack of enthusiasm around Mikie Sherrill’s arrogant and out-of-touch campaign, it’s that she thinks the endorsements of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton actually matter to middle- and working-class New Jerseyans who were kicked in the teeth by 8 years of one-party Democratic rule,” Chris Russell, Ciattarelli’s campaign strategist, told Fox News Digital. “Our state is more expensive and less safe.” “Spoiler alert: They don’t. If anything, it energizes our voters more.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined fundraising events for both Democratic gubernatorial candidates in October.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) have both launched candidacies for governor in their states in the 2025 election. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama has usually held his endorsement card close to his chest.

He endorsed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016, after months of signaling support for Clinton without formally offering his endorsement.

The only two Democrats running for governor in 2025 are former roommates with identical political careers

Obama remained coy during the 2020 elections about who he would support, saying he would not support anyone during the primaries. With Democratic contenders such as former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, withdrawing from the race, Obama officially endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden, after he became the party’s presumptive nominee.

Obama became more involved with Biden’s 2020 campaign in its final weeks, holding his first in-person event amid the pandemic in Pennsylvania just days before the election.

The 44th president called on Democrats to “chill out” during the 2020 primary season and wait to see which candidate will emerge successful in the primary process. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The 44th president called on Democrats to “chill out” during the 2020 primary season and wait to see which candidate will emerge successful in the primary process.

“There are going to be differences, but I want to make sure that we keep that in mind for the ultimate goal, which is to defeat a president and a party that has taken, I think, a sharp turn away from a lot of the traditions and core values ​​and institutional commitments that have built this country,” Obama said in 2019 at a Democratic fundraiser in California. “Compared to this goal, the differences we face now are relatively minor.”

He added: “Everyone should be calm about the candidates, but encouraged about the possibility of rallying behind anyone who emerges from this process.”

Obama, Pelosi and other top Democrats have resisted immediate endorsement of Harris, citing the need to “win her over” and the “hiking the distance” excuse.

During the unprecedented 2024 election cycle, Obama did not offer a new formal endorsement of Biden’s re-election bid, but joined him at campaign events. Biden eventually withdrew from the race as concerns grew about his mental acuity and age, with Obama again remaining silent for several days on whether he would endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee.

Former President Barack Obama speaks with then-President-elect Donald Trump before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter in Washington, January 9, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden withdrew from the race on July 21, 2024, and endorsed Harris to run in his place that same day in a separate social media post. Obama, as well as former First Lady Michelle Obama, endorsed Harris in a video message on July 26, 2024, while party members and political pundits anxiously awaited Obama’s support.

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Harris published her memoir, “107 Days,” last September, which detailed her shortened 2024 campaign cycle, including noting in her book that Obama did not offer an immediate endorsement, instead advising that she had to “earn” the nomination and consider its “timing.”

“Brace yourselves! Joe did what I hoped he would do. But you have to deserve it,” Obama said when Harris spoke to him, according to the book. “Michelle and I are supportive but we’re not putting a finger on the scale now. Let Joe have his moment. Think about the timing.”

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Obama also endorsed former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s failed 2021 re-election campaign at the end of October 2024, as that election began to lose popularity to Republican Glenn Youngkin as education issues took center stage.

The 2025 gubernatorial election has Democrats positioned as potential party leaders if they prove successful in their races, following the Democratic Party’s confusion over 2024 ballot box losses that handed President Donald Trump victory.

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for additional comment on the governor’s endorsement on Friday but did not immediately receive a response.