Politics
NEW: Obama Fuels Speculation With Late Endorsement Of Lagging Dem Gubernatorial Candidate
The race between Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli and his Democrat opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) heads towards the final stretch, former President Barack Obama issued an endorsement of Sherrill’s campaign in what some political analysts are calling a “desperate” attempt to rescue the Democrat nominee from a polling slide.
Continuing with a recent string of endorsements in the most closely watched off-year elections, the former president narrated an ad in support of the congresswoman’s campaign. Keeping with the general theme of Sherrill’s campaign, the ad features a number of boilerplate images of the Democrat lawmaker meeting with voters and touring work sites that cut in and out with images of her military career.
A former Navy helicopter pilot, Sherrill has made her military record a central theme of her campaign. Her campaign has been impacted by a scandal involving her alleged ties to a notorious cheating scandal during her time at the U.S. Naval Academy, however. While Sherrill has claimed she was not allowed to walk at her graduation due to failure to report classmates involved in the scandal, the gubernatorial hopeful has refused to release her disciplinary records from the time period.
“Hey, New Jersey. This is Barack Obama, and I want to talk to you about my friend, Mikie Sherrill,” Obama narrates over the aforementioned images. “Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families. As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe. Mikie’s integrity, grit, and commitment to service are what we need right now in our leaders. Mikey Sherrill is the right choice for your next governor. So go vote by November 4th.”
Ciattarelli dismissed the ad as a distraction while speaking with Fox News. “What I concern myself with is getting up and down the state each and every day and engaging with New Jerseyans. And the fact that we’ve got Democrats, prominent Democrats all the way around the state that have endorsed my candidacy, I think it says something. We’re going to win,” he said, pointing to a number of endorsements his campaign has received from elected Democrats.
Some political analysts speculated that the Obama move could be an indicator of growing worry in the Sherrill camp due to an enthusiasm advantage behind the Ciattarelli campaign and tightening poll numbers.
“Democrats are PETRIFIED that they’re going to lose New Jersey. They’re so scared that they made Obama endorse Mikie ‘Cheating Scandal’ Sherrill,” conservative elections activist Scott Pressler posted on X.
Veteran political strategist Chris Russell argued that the endorsement highlights a “lack of enthusiasm” for Sherrill’s “arrogant, out-of-touch campaign.” He suggested that turning to Obama and Hillary Clinton (who recently fundraised for Sherrill) shows vulnerability, as these endorsers “don’t matter” to working-class New Jersey voters frustrated by Democratic policies on costs and safety.
This echoes broader patterns in Obama’s endorsement history, like his delayed support for Terry McAuliffe’s failed 2021 Virginia bid, which analysts linked to polling slumps. More recently, Obama has faced criticism for the active role he played in former Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign, a strategy that included holding expensive, pre-rally concerts in order to give the appearance of popular support.
