Obama backs 260 Democrats in second wave of midterm endorsements

Former President Obama rolled out a second round of midterm endorsements on Monday, throwing his support behind 260 Democrats in races up and down the ballot. 

The announcements came two months after the former president issued his first endorsements of the 2018 election cycle, backing 81 candidates in gubernatorial, House, Senate and state legislature races across the country. 

{mosads}However, some prominent Democratic candidates were not on the list released on Monday, including Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who’s looking to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz (R); Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who has denied domestic abuse allegations from a former girlfriend; and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.).

Among those Democrats to get a shoutout in Obama’s latest round of endorsements was Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who’s locked in a tight battle for the Florida governor’s mansion, and Ben Jealous, who’s looking to oust Maryland’s Republican governor, Larry Hogan.

Both Gillum and Jealous would be the first African-American governors in their states’ respective histories if elected in November.

Also on the list was Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D), who is running for Senate in Arizona, as well as incumbent Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.). 

Obama also endorsed a number of Democrats in competitive House races, including Jason Crow, who’s looking to oust Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) in November, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Democrat running against Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) in his South Florida district.

In a statement, the former president touted the diversity of Democratic tickets across the country and said he was “eager to continue making the case for why they deserve our votes this November.”

“Our incredible array of candidates up and down the ticket, all across the country, make up a movement of citizens who are younger, more diverse, more female than ever before,” Obama said.

Obama has maintained a relatively low political profile since leaving office last year. But last month, he delivered a stunning rebuke of President Trump during a speech at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, decrying what he called the former real estate mogul’s “radical” agenda.

“It’s not conservative. It sure isn’t normal. It’s radical,” Obama said in the fiery address. “It’s a vision that says the protection of our power and those who back us is all that matters even when it hurts the country.”