On a brisk Saturday in early November 2025, former President Barack Obama made a high-profile return to the campaign trail, rallying Democratic voters in two pivotal states—Virginia and New Jersey—just days before their gubernatorial elections. The stakes? Nothing less, Obama argued, than the future of American democracy and a pointed rebuke of President Donald Trump, now ten months into his second term.
Obama’s first stop was Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where he threw his support behind Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer and six-year congresswoman vying for the governor’s mansion. Later that day, he took the stage at Essex County College Gymnasium in Newark, New Jersey, to energize supporters of Mikie Sherrill, a four-term House member and retired Navy helicopter pilot, in her own hard-fought gubernatorial contest.
According to The Economic Times, Obama did not mince words about the current state of affairs. “Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,” he told a rapturous crowd in Virginia. “It’s hard to know where to start because every day this White House offers people a fresh batch of lawlessness and recklessness and mean-spiritedness and just plain craziness.”
His criticism of Trump was sweeping, touching on the administration’s “shambolic” tariff policy, the deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, and what Obama described as a general disregard for democratic norms. “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 declared in Norfolk, according to Associated Press coverage.
Obama’s rhetoric was as biting as it was urgent. In New Jersey, he quipped, “It’s like every day is Halloween, except it’s all tricks and no treats.” He even dipped into sarcasm when referencing Trump’s priorities during a federal shutdown: “In fairness he has been focused on some critical issues, like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes, and building a $300 million ballroom.”
The rallies were not just about fiery speeches—they were packed with political heavyweights. In Newark, more than 3,000 attendees filled the gymnasium, with another 2,000 turned away at the door, as reported by The New York Post. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin, Senator Cory Booker, Rep. Nellie Pou, Governor Phil Murphy, and his wife Tammy Murphy all joined the event. The show of force underscored just how seriously Democrats were taking the tightening race, especially after a November 1 Atlas Intel poll showed Sherrill leading Republican Jack Ciattarelli by less than a single point—50.2% to 49.3%.
Obama’s presence was meant to rally the Democratic base, especially in Newark, where the population is nearly 50 percent Black and more than a third Hispanic. Sherrill’s edge among these groups was clear: a Suffolk University poll released just days earlier showed her leading Ciattarelli 65% to 12% among Black voters and 63% to 18% among Hispanics.
Meanwhile, the Republican candidates in both states took a different tack. Trump, though he endorsed both Ciattarelli and Winsome Earle-Sears (Spanberger’s Republican opponent in Virginia), spent the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, leaving the candidates to campaign solo. According to AP, Trump’s arms-length approach reflected the delicate balance Republicans face: he remains deeply popular with the conservative base, but his presence can be polarizing among moderates and independents.
Ciattarelli, on a bus tour across New Jersey, referenced Trump mostly to criticize Sherrill for invoking the president so often, while Earle-Sears avoided mentioning Trump altogether during her campaign stops with outgoing Governor Glenn Youngkin. “We are not going back,” Earle-Sears said, framing her campaign as a bid for conservative continuity and painting Spanberger as representing “the darkness.”
For Democrats, the stakes were clear. Obama repeatedly urged voters to “set a glorious example for the nation” by rejecting nominees loyal to Trump’s “autocratic impulses.” He praised Spanberger and Sherrill as experienced, pragmatic leaders who would improve voters’ financial circumstances and defend democratic norms. “You have a candidate worth being excited about,” Obama told the Newark crowd, as quoted by The New York Post.
Both Democratic candidates leaned into the national implications of their races. Sherrill, never one to shy away from the spotlight, told the Newark crowd, “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.’” Spanberger, by contrast, kept her remarks more circumspect, focusing on economic arguments against Trump’s policies and alluding to the “political turmoil coming out of Washington.”
Yet, as AP noted, Spanberger’s campaign invested heavily in ads tying Earle-Sears to Trump, highlighting the continued potency of national issues—even in state-level races. Both Democrats also pledged to address rising consumer costs, while their Republican opponents focused on local concerns like energy prices and property taxes.
Social issues, too, loomed large. Spanberger and Sherrill both championed abortion rights, with Spanberger emphasizing Virginia’s status as the last Southern state not to impose new restrictions. Earle-Sears, meanwhile, accused Spanberger of extremism on transgender rights, echoing attacks that Trump himself has used against national Democrats.
The atmosphere at the rallies was electric—and at times raucous. In Newark, chants of “Jack is trash” rang out as Sherrill jabbed at her opponent’s ties to Trump. One audience member shouted “Lock him up” after Trump’s name was mentioned, reflecting the raw emotions animating both sides of the political divide.
For all the partisan fireworks, Obama struck a note of cautious optimism. “Even though I’m the hope and change guy, there are things I’m worried about,” he admitted. “I’m worried about how quickly basic democratic rules and norms have been weakened.” Still, he reminded voters that America has weathered past upheavals and now has another chance to fight for change.
As the final days of campaigning wound down, both parties braced for a nail-biting finish. Democrats held a slim edge in early voting in New Jersey, though by less than two percentage points. Republicans, buoyed by closer-than-expected races in recent years, hoped to ride a wave of enthusiasm to upset victories. With the nation watching, Virginia and New Jersey’s off-year elections became a high-stakes referendum on Trump’s second term—and a test of whether Obama’s rallying cry would echo at the ballot box.
By Sunday night, one thing was certain: the outcome in these two states would reverberate far beyond their borders, shaping the political landscape ahead of the 2026 midterms and offering an early verdict on the direction of the country under Trump’s renewed leadership.
