WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his weekly newsletter to constituents, President Barack Obama encouraged Alabama voters to get out and work for Terri Sewell for Congress.

Sewell, a Selma native, is the Democratic nominee in the 7th District Congressional race for the seat left open by incumbent Rep. Artur Davis’ run for governor. Davis was defeated by Ron Sparks in the primary.

Obama opened his letter talking about the accomplishments made in 20 months of his presidency.

“And with so much still left to be done, and too many families struggling to get by, we need to keep America moving forward — which means I need you to support Terri Sewell for Congress,” Obama’s letter reads.

The e-mail letter has a link on it to Sewell’s campaign website so volunteers can sign up to volunteer in the effort.

This e-mail push comes as the lated Associated Press-GfK Poll shows less than 50 days from the election, people say they want Republicans in charge of the economy by a 46 percent to 41 percent margin.

But those polled are evening split over whether they prefer a Democratic or GOP congressional candidate.

The AP-GfK Poll was conducted Sept. 8-13 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,000 randomly chosen adults. the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points for adults and 5.7 percentage points for likely voters.

In the 7th Congressional District, Sewell faces Don Chamberlain, also from Selma, who is the Republican nominee.

Sewell is in Washington and could not be reached for comment.