Obama to campaign with Brown, Acton in Cleveland

Former President Obama is scheduled to hit the campaign trail with Ohio Senate candidate Sherrod Brown (D) and gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton (D) at the end of the month.

The former head of state will travel to Cleveland on Oct. 24 in an effort to boost support for the Democratic slate in the Buckeye State ahead of the midterm elections on Nov. 3.

Both the Senate and gubernatorial races in Ohio are competitive this cycle, after years of the state trending red. Brown is trying to unseat incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R), who was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) after JD Vance became Vice President, while Acton is up against biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to be the state’s chief executive.

In an endorsement video released by Brown’s campaign on Tuesday, Obama praised the former U.S. senator for fighting for working people and encouraging job growth during his presidency.

“This race is going to be close,” the former president said. “It could determine which party controls the Senate and whether Ohioans can count on the people in Washington to be fighting for you.”

The fight for control of Congress is still tight with weeks to go until the election, with forecaster Decision Desk HQ predicting that Democrats have a 77 percent chance of winning back the House and a 56 percent chance of winning the Senate as of Tuesday.

President Trump traveled to Ohio on Monday to ramp up support for Husted and Ramaswamy as both candidates faced tight margins in recent polling. While the president encouraged his supporters to back the candidates in the November election, he also spent a considerable portion of his speech deriding Democrats like Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar (D).

Obama has taken on an active role in supporting Democratic campaigns across the country this election cycle.

The former commander-in-chief is scheduled to stump for Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson (D) on the first day of in-person early voting in the state, which is also Oct. 24.