President Barack Obama is lending a hand to Democrats running for U.S. Senate and governor in North Carolina.
With Election Day less than three weeks away, Obama will appear in radio ads and a TV spot for candidates Deborah Ross and Roy Cooper, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Obama is looking to rekindle his charm with North Carolina voters who gave him a critical win in 2008.
Ross, from Raleigh, is a former state lawmaker and lobbyist with the American Civil Liberties Union. She is running against incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr, from Winston-Salem.
Cooper, North Carolina’s attorney general, is running against Gov. Pat McCrory.
Both the Senate and gubernatorial contests are close in North Carolina.
Obama’s pitch for Ross is already running on radio stations.
The ad starts with Obama saying, “This is not your typical election. It’s not just a choice between parties and policies. It’s a more fundamental choice about who we are as a people.”
He calls Ross a “friend” and says she’ll protect peoples’ right to vote and will support affordable education.
“We’ve been fighting to change the way Washington works over these last eight years,” Obama says in the ad. “And, while we’ve made a lot of progress, we still have a long way to go. But, Deborah Ross will continue that fight in the Senate because that’s what she’s always done.
A radio ad for Cooper is also live and running statewide, Cooper’s campaign said Friday.
The president and First Lady Michelle Obama have made recent campaign stops in North Carolina for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Past Clinton events and rallies with vice presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine, have given both Cooper and Ross a larger platform to boost their own campaigns.
With the new round of ads, Obama is looking to rekindle his charm with North Carolina voters who gave him a critical win in 2008 during his first presidential run but went for then-Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.
Current polling shows Clinton with a small lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump in North Carolina.
The Post reported Friday Obama has cut similar advertising spots for Democrats running in at least seven other states.
Anna Douglas: 202-383-6012, @ADouglasNews