Former President Barack Obama rallied support for the only pair of Democrats running for governor in 2025, New Jersey's Mikie Sherrill and Virginia's Abigail Spanberger. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Obama endorsed both Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill in October in video endorsements touting their leadership, while also taking digs at the Trump administration and Republicans. Obama has long served as the Democratic Party's campaign closer, zig-zagging states to drum up support in local, state and federal elections since he departed the White House in 2017.
Obama kept that momentum going in 2025, as the party overall still navigates its path forward with new leadership following former Vice President Kamala Harris' election loss to President Donald Trump.
Epstein said Democrats are currently benefiting from "anti-Trump energy," noting that "60% of Virginians think the local economy is good but 2/3rds think the country is headed in the wrong direction."
"This is an extraordinary paradox, and it means people don't believe Trump is delivering on the economy," he said. "We still have 3% inflation, and very few voters think their overall economic position is improving."
The Democrat added that economic and affordability concerns weighed heavily on voters heading to the ballot boxes just a year after electing Trump in an election that also largely focused on the economy and inflation woes from the Biden-era.
"What that should tell Trump is that there's too much noise and too much distraction, and that he needs to focus on getting the economy into overdrive. This means concluding the trade agreements ASAP, reducing the tariffs, and allowing the economy to soar after the tax cuts in deregulation," he said.
"First and foremost, the Republicans won because voters trust them more in the economy," he said of the 2024 election. "They need to prove that this trust was not misplaced. All of this would've been exactly the same whether or not Obama showed up."
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House Oct. 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital traveled to Newark for the Sherrill rally featuring Obama, with attendees celebrating that they believed Sherrill would win the election while remarking Obama's presence only helped drive further support. The crowds at the Newark, New Jersey, rally were so large that some supporters were turned away at the door of the rally, which was held at the local community college's gymnasium.
"I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that," one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox News Digital. "But I do support Mikie, as well."
WITH LEGACY ON THE LINE, OBAMA HITTING CAMPAIGN TRAIL TO BOOST DEMOCRATS IN KEY GOVERNOR ELECTIONS
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during a press conference in 2020. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
"President Trump has got the loudest voice in the party. And you know his voice is much bigger than former President Obama's," he said.
Bradley Devlin, politics editor at The Daily Signal, added that "whatever the ‘Obama Bump’ might be—assuming there is one at all," it would not "make up for the fact that Obama was the one who set the Democrat party down this path of extremism, taking the side of the 20 in 80-20 issues, and creating the fundamentals for the rise of Trump and the resurgence of conservative politics and American values."
Trump did not physically campaign in New Jersey or Virginia. He endorsed New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli's candidacy and took part in virtual tele-rallies ahead of the election. Trump additionally did not endorse Virginia Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears, and instead promoted Virginia residents vote for GOP Old Dominion State candidates across the board during a tele-rally where the president did not mention Earle-Sears by name.
The president wrote on Truth Social late Tuesday as the election results came in that unspecified pollsters reported that Republicans lost the election because Trump was not physically on the ballot, as well as the ongoing shutdown woes since. Oct. 1.
White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital when asked about the election that "Americans are grappling with affordability because it was Joe Biden and Democrats who created the worst inflation crisis in decades."
"Putting this inflation crisis behind us has been a Day One priority for President Trump. The Administration’s supply-side economic agenda has already cooled inflation to a 2.5 percent annualized rate – half the average inflation rate under Joe Biden. Americans are paying less for essentials like gas and eggs, and today the Administration inked yet another drug pricing deal to deliver unprecedented healthcare savings for everyday Americans," Desai continued.
"As President Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and energy abundance continues to take effect and real wages continue increasing, Americans can rest assured that the best is yet to come."
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger celebrates as she takes the stage during her election night rally at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Nov. 04, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Obama previously has campaigned in New Jersey during current Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy's campaigns in 2017 and 2021, but has not spent as much time in the state compared to battleground jurisdictions such as Pennsylvania or Wisconsin during federal elections. Obama's rally in Norfolk, Virginia, marked the first time since 2012 that he campaigned in the city, adding to the fanfare of a former president rallying support for the Democrat ticket.
Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obamas-iconic-voice-eclipsed-2025-election-trump-era-economic-affordability-complaints