WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is traveling to Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin in the final days of the 2022 campaign to give Democrats a boost as they run for governor, senator and presidential candidates.
He travels first to Atlanta, where Stacey Abrams faces Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on November 8. She lost a close race against him in 2018.
As in 2020, Georgia could also decide again which party controls the Senate. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock faces a challenge from Republican Herschel Walker, a soccer star who is running for public office for the first time.
After campaigning in Atlanta on Oct. 28, Obama plans to stop the next day in Detroit and Milwaukee to hold events to get the vote.
In Michigan, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer is running against Tudor Dixon, a former commentator on a conservative online program that was endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Michigan voters also decide whether or not to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
In Wisconsin, Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes is trying to overthrow Republican Senator Ron Johnson and become the state’s first black senator.
Barnes, who hails from Milwaukee, the state’s largest city and home to the largest group of African-American voters, tried to energize black voters in a race that a law school poll from Marquette University last week showed Johnson with an apparent lead.
Obama is also hoping to give a boost to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is being challenged by Tim Michels, co-owner of a Trump-backed construction company. Marquette polls for months have shown the race to be about even.
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The Associated Press