WASHINGTON (AP) – Aiming to help Democrats in November, President Barack Obama is returning Friday to his hometown of Chicago to raise money for Hillary Clinton and Tammy Duckworth, who is running for his old Senate seat.
Obama also plans to fill out an early ballot while in Chicago, as Democrats work to encourage their supporters to vote early across the country. Just before departing Washington, Obama said he didn’t plan to visit an early voting location in person, but is looking forward to campaigning for Democrats while in the state.
So far, the White House has confirmed that Obama will be raising money at three separate events: one for Clinton’s campaign through the Democratic National Committee, one for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and one on Sunday for Duckworth, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Mark Kirk.
Kirk won the Senate seat during the 2010 election that swept Democrats out of power in the House and allowed the GOP to make gains in the Senate. He faces a tougher road in a general election, when more Democratic voters cast ballots.
Most public polls suggest Duckworth is leading in the race. Democrats pounced a couple of months ago when Kirk described Obama as “acting like the drug dealer in chief” when the Obama administration delivered $400 million in cash to Iran on the same day Tehran agreed to release American prisoners.