▶ Watch Video: Obama endorses Troy Jackson in Maine Senate race
Former President Barack Obama is throwing his support behind Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reelection campaign, releasing a video endorsement Friday as the former president steps up his involvement in key Senate and gubernatorial races in the final stretch before the midterm elections.
“Pennsylvania, Governor Shapiro has your back — and in this election, I’m asking you to have his,” Obama says in the video first obtained by CBS News.
Obama praised Shapiro’s leadership and record in office and emphasized the importance of electing leaders who demonstrate “decency and integrity” while standing up against what he describes as the “chaos, cruelty and corruption” in Washington.
The endorsement is part of a wider effort by Obama to help Democrats ahead of the November elections. The former president has cut approximately two dozen video endorsements for Democratic Senate and gubernatorial candidates across the country.
Several were released Thursday, including videos supporting Democrats in key battleground states: Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson, Georgia gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms and Wisconsin gubernatorial nominee David Crowley. Obama is also expected to campaign in Michigan later this month for Democratic senatorial contender Abdul El-Sayed.
The former president, who continues to be one of the most popular Democrats according to a CNN poll released this summer, is reprising his role as “closer-in-chief,” as he has done in previous cycles since leaving the White House 10 years ago. This time, he’s serving as a prominent surrogate in his party’s efforts to win control of Congress and key governors’ offices on Nov. 3.
Shapiro, who is seeking a second four-year term, is facing Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Most polls show the Democratic incumbent holding a commanding lead with less than a month to go until Election Day.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found Shapiro leading Garrity by 25 percentage points among likely Pennsylvania voters. The survey also found Shapiro with a 63% job approval rating. A separate New York Times/Philadelphia Inquirer/Siena poll released last month showed Shapiro ahead by 20 points.
The governor’s strong political standing in Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s most closely watched presidential battleground states, has also fueled increased speculation about his political future. Shapiro is widely viewed as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, although he has repeatedly emphasized that his immediate focus is winning reelection.
Shapiro and Obama have been politically aligned for nearly two decades, stretching back to when Shapiro served as a state legislator and endorsed Obama’s 2008 presidential primary run. In Friday’s endorsement video, Obama calls Shapiro a “friend” and “one of my earliest endorsers.”
Both fans and detractors of Shapiro have compared his and Obama’s speaking styles. Vice President JD Vance joked in 2024, “If I really tried to do a bad impression of Barack Obama, that’s what it would sound like.” Asked about the jab by CBS News at the time, Shapiro said: “Barack Obama was probably our most gifted orator of my time, so it’s kind of a weird insult, I guess.”
