Former President Barack Obama officially endorsed both Democrat candidates running in the only pair of gubernatorial elections this cycle, following the tradition of the former president holding his endorsement cards close to his chest in the lead-up to elections.

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

“Mikie is a mom who will drive down 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 2025’s off-season election year, with Sherrill and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia as the only Democrats in the running. 

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Obama endorsed Spanberger Thursday in a pair of ads that also took aim at Republicans for “attacking abortion rights.” 

“Virginia’s elections are some of the most important in the country this year. We know Republicans will keep attacking abortion rights and the rights of women. That’s why having the right governor matters, and I’m proud to endorse Abigail Spanberger,” Obama said in an ad endorsing the Virginia Democrat. 

“Republican policies are raising costs on working families so (that) billionaires can get massive tax cuts,” he said in another ad endorsing Spanberger. 

Following Obama’s endorsement of Spanberger, the Republican challenger in the race, current Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ campaign told Fox Digital Thursday, “Abigail Spanberger is scared, and it shows.”

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“After losing support across Virginia, she’s leaning on liberal elites to try and save her collapsing campaign,” Earle-Sears’ press secretary, Peyton Vogel, said. “This is a desperate play from a candidate who’s run out of support, out of ideas and out of time. Voters see through it, and that’s why Winsome Earle-Sears is surging.” 

New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign also blasted the Obama endorsement in a comment to Fox News Digital Friday. 

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

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

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., launched gubernatorial bids for their respective states in the 2025 election.  (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

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

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

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Obama remained coy during the 2020 election about whom he would endorse, saying he would not back anyone during the primary. As Democratic contenders such as former Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race, Obama officially endorsed his former vice president, Joe Biden, after he became the party’s presumptive nominee. 

Obama notably got more involved with the 2020 Biden 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 would 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 would emerge successful in the primary process. 

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

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates,” he added, “but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

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During the unprecedented 2024 election cycle, Obama did not offer a formal, new endorsement of Biden’s re-election run but did join him for campaign events. Biden ultimately dropped out of the race as concerns over his mental acuity and age mounted, with Obama again staying mum for days whether he would endorse then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee. 

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

Biden dropped out of the race July 21, 2024, and endorsed Harris to run in his place that same day in a separate social media post. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama endorsed Harris in a video message July 26, 2024, as party members and political pundits awaited the Obamas’ support with bated breath.

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Harris published a memoir, “107 Days,” in September that detailed her short 2024 campaign cycle and noted in her book that Obama did not offer an immediate endorsement, instead advising that she has to “earn” the nomination and consider the “timing” of it. 

“Saddle up! Joe did what I hoped he would do. But you have to earn it,” Obama said when Harris spoke to him, according to the book. “Michelle and I are supportive but not going to put a finger on the scale right now. Let Joe have his moment. Think through timing.” 

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

The 2025 gubernatorial elections have teed up the two Democrats as potential leaders of the party if they prove fruitful in their races, following the Democrat Party’s disarray from the losses at the 2024 ballot boxes that handed President Donald Trump a victory. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Obama’s office for additional comment on the gubernatorial endorsements Friday but did not immediately receive a reply.