First lady hits trail for Dem governors

First lady Michelle Obama will hit the campaign trail for a quartet of Democratic gubernatorial candidates, the White House announced on Thursday.

On Friday, the first lady will head to Boston for a campaign event with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who is running to replace the outgoing Gov. Deval Patrick (D). Polls have shown that race tightening, with a WBUR survey released Wednesday morning showing the failed 2010 Senate nominee with a narrow 44 percent to 41 percent lead over Republican Charlie Baker.

{mosads}After her event in Boston, the first lady will visit the University of Maine where she’s slated to appear alongside Rep. Mike Michaud, who is seeking the governor’s mansion. Again, surveys indicate a virtual tossup, with Michaud ahead 41 percent to 39 percent over incumbent Republican Paul LePage and independent candidate Eliot Cutler, according to a poll released late last month by the Portland Press Herald. Portland Press Herald.

Next week, the first lady will stop in Madison, Wis., for an event benefitting former Trek Bicycle executive and Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke. Obama traveled to Milwaukee earlier this week for an event intended to bolster Burke in her fight against incumbent Gov. Scott Walker (R).

“We all need to be as passionate and hungry for this election as we were in 2008 and 2012,” Obama told a crowd there.

“When the midterms come along, too many of our people just tune out, and that’s what a lot of folks on the other side are counting on this year,” she continued. “They’re assuming that we won’t care, they’re assuming that we won’t be organized and energized. And only we can prove them wrong.”

After visiting Wisconsin, the first lady will make the quick trip to her hometown of Chicago for an event benefitting the sitting governor, Democrat Pat Quinn. On Thursday, President Obama headlined an event for the governor, closed to the media, where 25 people paid $50,000 each to attend.