Obama returning to campaign trail to stump for Northam in Virginia governor's race

Source: The Washington Post

By Fenit Nirappil June 22 at 9:03 PM

Former President Barack Obama is making his first campaign foray of 2017, agreeing to stump for Democrat Ralph Northam in his bid to be Virginia’s next governor.

David Turner, a spokesman for Northam, said the former president agreed this week to hit the campaign trail for Northam, but said he wouldn’t “go into any further detail about the private conversations that Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam had with President Barack Obama.”

An aide to Obama confirmed that the former president agreed to campaign for Northam during a congratulatory call, although no events have been planned.

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The Virginia governor’s race, one of just two gubernatorial contests this year, is shaping up as the next high-profile electoral contest in the era of President Trump. It follows a couple of Democratic losses in high-profile special elections to fill congressional vacancies, including the House race in Georgia earlier this week that became the most expensive in U.S. history.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/obama-returning-to-campaign-trail-to-stump-for-northam-in-va-governors-race/2017/06/22/7d64456e-5793-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html