Former President Barack Obama is heading back to electoral politics Saturday as he returns to the campaign trail for the first time in the 2018 midterm election cycle.
Obama’s endorsement tour will begin in Orange County, California, where he will be stomping on behalf of seven congressional candidates, all in traditionally red districts that voted blue during the 2016 presidential election, reported The New York Times.
Following California, Obama will travel to Ohio and join Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Democratic nominee for the gubernatorial race, as he campaigns to replace current Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich. Cordray and the Republican candidate, state Attorney General Mike DeWine, are neck-and-neck in a heated race. (RELATED: Trump’s Alleged Two-Word Nickname For Obama Is Not Good)
The former president is planning on vigorously rallying up the Democratic base in order to increase voter turn out, not only for House and Senate elections, but “in local, down-ballot races to build the Democratic Party’s bench,” a spokeswoman for Obama told The Times.
Obama released a list in August of the Democratic candidates he is endorsing during November’s midterm elections. Otherwise, he has largely stayed away from making public statements.
More than 40 Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives either announced retirement or decided to seek other offices prior to the 2018 midterms, illustrating a substantial shift in the party. Democrats are hoping to take advantage of the change and pick up enough seats to retake the House.
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