President Barack Obama’s putting his popularity behind members of his extended alumni association in this last round of endorsements. | Getty Obama endorses alums in hyper local races

President Barack Obama is going even further down the ballot — all the way down to Richmond, Virginia and San Francisco school boards, an Ohio county prosecutor and the Oakland, California and Louisville, Kentucky city councils — to help promote the inklings of an elected Obama generation.

That comes as Obama has now taped robocalls for 73 Democratic incumbents and challengers running for House seats, to run in the last few days before Election Day.


Obama’s putting his popularity behind members of his extended alumni association in this last round of endorsements, adding them to a list that includes former campaign aides Eric Lesser, now a state senator in Massachusetts; Michael Blake, now an Assemblyman from the Bronx; and Pennsylvania attorney general candidate Josh Shapiro. That’s on top of the more than 150 people he’s endorsed for state legislature seats as part of his bid to push redistricting reform around the country.

“These are young men and women who share the president's values and beliefs about how to make positive change,” said White House political director David Simas. “He's committed to supporting and lifting up the next generation of leaders.”

As it stands, there are not many Obama alumni in office — or who’ve even tried to run, aside from Lesser, Blake and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, his first White House chief of staff.

But as the president prepares to head to Philadelphia on Monday for a final-night rally with Hillary Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama to recreate the image of that Democratic convention hug as the closing pitch to voters in the race, the presidential nominee isn’t the only one hoping for an Obama bump.

“It is a very special and unusual thing for a sitting president to endorse someone running for school board,” said Matt Haney, who took off from his first year of law school at Stanford to volunteer for Obama in Iowa in 2008, and said he’s “still in shock” to be endorsed in his hyperlocal race for re-election back in San Francisco.

“I believe that those of us who were part of that historic 2008 campaign have a special responsibility to remain in public service, and to use everything we learned to help fulfill the promise of our democracy and give voice to those who are too often shut out and left behind,” Haney said. “The 2008 Obama campaign was a pivotal moment for our generation’s political and social awakening.”

César Blanco, who now has Obama’s backing in his run for a Texas statehouse seat after serving as Obama’s Arizona state director on his presidential campaign, echoed that.

“As a veteran, I was proud to serve my country in uniform, but the president inspired me to continue that service as a community leader,” Blanco said. “So I ran for office in El Paso, Texas.”

Obama’s also backing Elliot Anderson is running for Nevada state assembly, Christian Mitchell running for Illinois state Assembly and Kelly Mazeski running for Illinois State Senate.

Others on the list: Oakland City Council candidate Peggy Moore, Richmond school board candidate Liz Doerr, Franklin County Ohio prosecutor candidate Zach Klein and Louisville Metro Council candidate Gill Holland.

Then there’s Michael Tubbs, who was 18 when Obama was first elected and was working as a White House intern in intergovernmental affairs in the winter of 2010 when his cousin was murdered back home in Stockton, Calif.

Both those experiences combined to help get him in this year’s race for mayor of Stockton.

Obama’s endorsement, Tubbs said, was a “huge surprise.”

“It means that we have support from the White House to South Stockton, and that people understand I have the leadership and experience to help Stockton realize its full potential,” Tubbs said, adding that there’s an extra validation of having Stockton thought of in the national conversation.

Haney said he hoped more Obama alumni joining them in politics soon.

“I hope that in the coming years we see many more members of the Obama Generation make the decision to run for office,” he said. “With all the cynicism and divisiveness out there, our country needs us to step up and stay engaged now more than ever.”