WASHINGTON (AP) – In a rural stretch of Kentucky, voters picked up the phone in March to hear President Barack Obama on the line, urging them to vote for a little-known Democrat named Jeff Taylor.
It seemed odd that an obscure special election for a Kentucky House seat had caught the president’s attention. Yet Taylor won, joining two other victorious Democrats to deny Republicans the chance to take over the last Democratic-run legislative chamber in the South.
Though he’s staying neutral in the Democratic presidential race, Obama is wading deep into Democratic primaries for Congress, state legislature and even mayoral races, cherry-picking candidates he sees as stronger while preparing to campaign in person for Democrats in the fall.
Democratic officials said Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are in high demand this year -a sharp reversal from just two years ago, when Obama was politically toxic. Most Democratic candidates in 2014 practically begged Obama and his sagging poll numbers to stay away, relegating the president to a few Democrat-friendly states like Michigan.
This year, upbeat economic news and rising approval ratings have increased his value to Democrats in the last election cycle before he leaves office.