Former President Obama will campaign with Democratic Virginia gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 1, according to a Tuesday announcement from Spanberger’s campaign.
Obama last campaigned in Hampton Roads in 2012. His upcoming campaign stop with Spanberger will mark the first campaign visit of any Democratic president to the area in over 10 years.
The announcement comes less than a week after Obama cut two ads urging Virginia voters to back Spanberger in next month’s governor’s race.
“Virginia’s elections are some of the most important in the country this year,” Obama says in the ads.
Obama, one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, is no stranger to Virginia off-year elections. The former president endorsed and campaigned for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) in his unsuccessful 2021 bid for the governor’s mansion.
The former president flipped Virginia in the 2008 presidential election, winning the state by 6 points. He won the Old Dominion State again in 2012 by just less than 4 points.
The campaign stop comes as Spanberger has continued to lead her Republican opponent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R). The latest polling average from The Hill’s partners at Decision Desk HQ show the former lawmaker leading Earle-Sears 49.5 percent to 43.9 percent.
