Former President Barack Obama will make an election appearance on Saturday with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy facing a challenge from Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Mr. Obama also campaigned for Mr. Murphy in 2017, at a time when hysteria over voter fraud and fake news deprived many potential voters of the right to vote.

“We reject a politics of fear,” Mr. Obama said at the time.

“Some of the policies that we see now, we thought we put that aside… This is the 21st century, not the 19th century.”

Polls show the incumbent Democratic president leads Mr Ciattarelli from 50% to 41%, according to a Stockton University poll, but that doesn’t give Democrats any rest.

First Lady Jill Biden also campaigned there on Oct. 15, saying “this election would set the course in a year” on her first political trip as her husband’s presidency.

Speaking at an early voting rally at Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey, Ms. Biden applauded on stage for “It’s My Life,” from the New Jersey icon and Biden supporter, Jon Bon Jovi.

“We cannot become complacent. We have to get down to business, ”Ms. Biden said.

The loudest applause from the event came when Ms. Biden joked, “Hello, Friday today. So go have a beer and go vote.

Mr. Obama will also be campaigning tomorrow for Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial election, where polls almost show him an abhorrent Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin.

In Virginia in particular, which President Joe Biden won last year with a comfortable 10%, a loss in the gubernatorial race could cause problems for Democrats midway through 2022, when control of Congress is likely to pass. to Republicans.

The president’s approval ratings have fallen to some of the lowest levels of his tenure in the White House amid congressional struggles over infrastructure and voting rights.

Agencies contributed to this story

Update: October 23, 2021, 12:47 a.m.