Begich said after the speech that, if Obama came to Alaska, he would be “not really interested in campaigning” with him, but would “drag him around” to show him how the administration’s policies have hurt the state by limiting oil and gas development and the issuance of logging permits.

“I don’t need him campaigning for me. I need him to change some of his policies,” Begich told CNN.

Democratic senators are not the only candidates in their party keeping some distance from Obama. In Wisconsin, a state the president won in the 2012 election, Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke skipped an appearance by Obama in Waukesha on Thursday. She said she had a previously scheduled commitment.