Obama goes up against Trump in fight for Nevada Senate seat

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Mark Makela/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail two weeks before the midterm elections, appearing Monday at a rally at the University of Nevada Las Vegas campus to boost Democrats up and down the ballot.

He’s particularly focused on Nevada’s Senate race, one of the tightest in the country. Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen is challenging Republican incumbent Dean Heller, the only Republican senator up for re-election in a state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Heller has been endorsed by President Trump, who just on Saturday stumped for him in Elko, Nevada, on the same night that Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, campaigned in the state for Rosen.

Rosen has made health care the primary issue of her campaign — an issue that was also central to Obama’s presidency.

Her supporters told ABC News they were concerned about a number of issues in 2018, especially women’s rights, health care, and having a check on President Trump.

Obama is the latest in a string of national surrogates who have visited Nevada in the 2018 midterm cycle and Democrats are hoping some Hollywood star power will invigorate their base. Obama will be joined by “Ugly Betty” actress America Ferrera, and the hip-hop group Salt-N-Pepa.

Steve Sisolak, the Democratic candidate for governor, was also scheduled to speak at the rally. Sisolak, who’s currently the Commission Chairman of Clark County, the county that encompasses Las Vegas, faces Republican candidate Adam Laxalt, the state’s attorney general.

It’s an open seat race for the seat currently held by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who has reached the end of his term.

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