Former President Barack Obama is endorsing Gretchen Whitmer for governor, Garlin Gilchrist for lieutenant governor and 19 other Michigan Democrats running for Congress or the Legislature.
The twenty-one candidates in the state are among 260 nationwide who won Obama's backing in his second wave of endorsements Monday.
Obama says Michigan's middle-class families "need a governor who knows how to get things done," crediting Whitmer's past work to raise the minimum wage and expand Medicaid.
Obama also announced his support for Democratic congressional candidates Elissa Slotkin and Haley Stevens. Slotkin is running against second-term Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in the 8th District between Lansing and the northern Detroit suburbs. Stevens is running against Republican Lena Epstein for the open 11th District in suburban Detroit.