第一夫人吉尔·拜登星期五开始竞选活动，希望帮助民主党在两次州长选举中获胜。
周五下午，拜登在新泽西州为州长菲尔·墨菲助选，随后周五晚上在弗吉尼亚州停留，为前州长特里·麦考利夫投票。
“我来这里是想请求新泽西人民重新选举菲尔·墨菲为你们的下一任州长。你知道，他利用这个办公室带领新泽西州度过了现代历史上最黑暗的时期之一，”拜登周五下午在新泽西州爱迪生说。“我和乔认识菲尔。我们知道他每天都会为你和你的家人而战。”
在弗吉尼亚州的亨里科县，拜登强调了麦考利夫之前担任州长的经历。
“弗吉尼亚，你需要一个你可以信任的人，那就是特里·麦考利夫。你知道是因为你了解特里。他有一个大胆的愿景，要从大流行中恢复过来，投资教育，让处方药变得负担得起，”拜登说。“他有着良好的记录。...像乔一样，特里明白光有好主意是不够的。你必须让人们团结起来，兑现你的承诺。”
自20世纪70年代以来，现任民主党州长从未在新泽西州赢得连任，但公共民调显示，墨菲比麦考利夫更有可能进入11月。斯托克顿大学和蒙莫斯大学在9月中旬进行的民意调查显示，墨菲分别以9个百分点和13个百分点的优势领先共和党前议员杰克·西塔雷利。尽管弗吉尼亚人在投票箱中两次拒绝了前总统唐纳德·特朗普，民主党人在联邦中也取得了重大进展，包括在他执政时确保了三连胜政府，但根据FiveThirtyEight的平均民调，麦考利夫仅领先共和党提名人格伦·扬金2.5个百分点。
尽管过去几周竞争加剧，但麦考利夫相信弗吉尼亚人会支持他的记录，他将再次打破所谓的“弗吉尼亚诅咒”，即如果候选人与现任白宫主人有相同的党派关系，他们将在弗吉尼亚州的休赛期州长竞选中失败。
“我们将再次赢得这场比赛，并以此再次创造历史，”麦考利夫周四告诉记者。“我是80年来第一个赢得每一个城市和县(初选)的两党候选人。……为什么?我认为a)人们对我之前担任州长的工作很满意，b)因为我有一个真正的议程。”
第一夫人并不是两位候选人的唯一高调代孕者，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马下周也将为两位候选人巡回演讲。
奥巴马将于10月23日在各州举行背靠背的活动，距离选举日还有10天，同时也是新泽西州历史上第一天亲自提前投票。
佐治亚州的重量级人物斯泰西·艾布拉姆斯和亚特兰大市长凯莎·兰斯·博茨都在总统的副总统候选人名单上，他们也将于周日前往弗吉尼亚州为麦考利夫竞选。
麦考利夫在最后一次辩论中说，他不“认为父母应该告诉学校他们应该教什么”，之后，扬金运动围绕教育展开，作为他的闭幕词。第一夫人是一名教育家，于1976年开始了她的职业生涯，让她加入麦考利夫的竞选可以成为一个谈论这个问题的机会，并让可能对他的立场持谨慎态度的父母放心。
拜登目前在北弗吉尼亚社区学院担任英语教授，她将教育作为自己作为第一夫人的首要任务之一。
第一夫人并不是第一个在该州为麦考利夫竞选的拜登——乔·拜登总统也在7月份代表他的老朋友进行了一次竞选活动——尽管最近的民调显示，拜登在该州的支持率下降，导致麦考利夫与总统保持距离。
“如你所知，我们正面临来自华盛顿的许多逆风。不幸的是，总统今天在弗吉尼亚州不受欢迎，所以我们必须努力度过难关，”麦考利夫上周在一次虚拟集会上说。他还表示，他对国会仍未通过基础设施一揽子计划感到沮丧，称“国会山的不作为……极具破坏性。”
尽管有这些评论，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基周四表示，她预计总统将继续支持麦考利夫的候选资格。
“我认为总统当然希望前州长麦考利夫成为弗吉尼亚州未来的州长。无论是投资重建我们的道路、铁路和桥梁，还是让女性更容易重新加入劳动力大军，他们的许多议程都是一致的，”普萨基告诉记者。
她补充说:“我们将尽一切努力帮助前州长麦考利夫，我们相信他所代表的议程。”
此后，麦考利夫明确表示，拜登在弗吉尼亚州仍然受到欢迎，他周二告诉记者，“他会回来的。你打赌他会的。”
First lady Jill Biden stumps in New Jersey, Virginia to help elect Democratic governors
First lady Jill Biden hit the campaign trail Friday, hoping to help deliver victories for Democrats in two gubernatorial elections.
Biden stumped in New Jersey for Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday afternoon and later stopped in Virginia Friday evening to get out the vote for former Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
"I came here to ask the people of New Jersey to reelect Phil Murphy as your next governor. You know, he's used this office to lead New Jersey through one of the darkest times in modern history," Biden said in Edison, New Jersey, Friday afternoon. "Joe and I know Phil. We know that he's going to fight for you and your family every single day."
In Henrico County, Virginia, Biden pitched McAuliffe's prior experience as governor.
"Virginia, you need somebody that you can trust, and that's Terry McAuliffe. You know that because you know Terry. He has a bold vision to recover from the pandemic, invest in education and make prescription drugs affordable," Biden said. "He has a proven track record. ... Like Joe, Terry understands it's not enough to have good ideas. You have to bring people together and deliver on your promises."
An incumbent Democratic governor hasn't won reelection in New Jersey since the 1970s, but public polling indicates Murphy is better positioned heading into November than McAuliffe. Polls conducted in mid-September from Stockton University and Monmouth University showed Murphy with a nine-point and 13-point lead, respectively, over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman. While Virginians rejected former President Donald Trump at the ballot box twice and Democrats made significant gains in the commonwealth, including securing a trifecta government when he was in office, McAuliffe only has a slim 2.5-point lead over GOP nominee Glenn Youngkin, according to FiveThirtyEight's polling average.
Despite the race tightening over the last few weeks, McAuliffe is confident Virginians will back his record and he'll once again break the so-called "Virginia curse" of candidates losing Virginia's off-year gubernatorial race if they have the same party affiliation as the current occupant of the White House.
"We're gonna win this again and make history again with this," McAuliffe told reporters Thursday. "I am the first candidate for office of either party in 80 years to win every single city and county (in the primary). … Why? I think a.) people were happy with my job as governor before and b.) because I have a real agenda."
The first lady is not the only high-profile surrogate hitting the road for the two candidates -- former President Barack Obama will also stump for both men next week.
Obama will hold back-to-back events in the states on Oct. 23, 10 days before Election Day and coinciding with the first day of in-person early voting in New Jersey's history.
Georgia heavy-hitters Stacey Abrams and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who were both on the president's shortlist for vice president, are also headed to Virginia on Sunday to campaign for McAuliffe.
After McAuliffe said during the last debate that he doesn't "think parents should be telling schools what they should teach," the Youngkin campaign rallied around education as his closing message. Having the first lady, an educator who began her career in 1976, join McAuliffe on the trail could serve as an opportunity to speak to the issue and reassure parents who may be wary of his stance.
Biden, who currently works as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, has made education one of the top priorities in her role as first lady.
The first lady is not the first Biden to campaign for McAuliffe in the state -- President Joe Biden also made a campaign stop on behalf of his longtime friend in July -- though recent polling has shown Biden's approval ratings in the state fall, leading McAuliffe to distance himself from the president.
"We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington, as you know. The president is unpopular today unfortunately here in Virginia, so we have got to plow through," McAuliffe said during a virtual rally last week. He's also said he's frustrated that Congress still hasn't passed the infrastructure package, saying the "inaction on Capitol Hill … is so damaging."
Despite the comments, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that she expected the president would continue to advocate for McAuliffe's candidacy.
"I think the president of course wants former Gov. McAuliffe to be the future governor of Virginia. There is alignment on a lot of their agenda, whether it is the need to invest in rebuilding our roads, rails and bridges or making it easier for women to rejoin the workforce," Psaki told reporters.
"We're going to do everything we can to help former Gov. McAuliffe and we believe in the agenda he's representing," she added
And McAuliffe has since made clear that Biden is still welcome in Virginia, telling reporters Tuesday, "He'll be coming back. You bet he will."
