ALBANY, Ga. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton urged churchgoers in Albany, Georgia, on Sunday to rally behind the vice president Kamala Harris campaign for the office he once held.

“Uniting people and building them up, bridging the gap, as Isaiah says, those are the things that work,” Clinton said. “Blame, division, humiliation – they get you a lot of votes in an election campaign, but they don’t work.”

While Mount Zion Baptist Church wasn't completely full, a large crowd greeted Clinton with a standing ovation. Many attendees were older, but a few younger people were scattered in the pews.

“I think it was a great step forward for Southwest Georgia to have the former president come to us today during the service to honor us and spread the right to vote, especially to our young people,” said Takisha Campbell.

Georgia is one of seven states considered crucial in this year's presidential race, and black voter turnout could be key for Democrats to win the state's 16 electoral votes.

democrat Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 by 11,779 votes out of more than 5 million cast against then-President Donald Trump. It was the first time a Democrat took the state since Clinton in 1992. Four years later, Clinton lost the state to Republican Bob Dole but won re-election.

In 1992, Clinton and then-Sen. Al Gore drove a campaign bus through southwest Georgia to woo rural voters. Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz revived that approach earlier this year, visiting Savannah and Liberty County in the southeastern part of the state, but they did not travel west.

Albany is a historic site of the civil rights movement. At Mount Zion, Clinton recalled a time when politics was less polarized and lamented a toxic political climate Misinformation.

He pointed to U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.,'s post on X that claimed Democrats caused Hurricane Helene, which ripped through the Southeast last month. And he said, Trump's vice president, the senator from Ohio. JD Vancewho has repeatedly failed to acknowledge that Trump lost the White House in 2020, was a “yes man” to Trump.

At the Black Church, Clinton highlighted Harris' accomplishments and promises, including her involvement in Biden's work to lower insulin costs and revive the economy. He said it will pave the way for greater economic opportunities and mentioned its plan to provide financial support First time homeowners.

Regina Whearry, who attended the service, said she wished more people knew the former president was coming. But she appreciated how Clinton touched on both politics and scripture.

“It was desperately needed because we have very low voter turnout in this area, especially among our black men,” Whearry said.

Democrats see Clinton as someone who can mobilize both rural and black voters. But while Clinton was known for his popularity in black communities in the South, it remains to be seen whether he can still excite black voters as the population familiar with his presidency ages. But he didn't hold back when describing what's at stake in this year's race.

“This whole election and the future of the country will be determined over the next three and a half weeks by what people who were still on the fence about voting will do,” Clinton said. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Black registered voters, despite his overwhelmingly positive views of Harris and negative views of Trump Try to appeal to non-white voters, according to a recent poll The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But that Opinion poll also shows that many black voters are unsure whether Harris would improve the country as a whole or their own lives.

Albany was an early battleground in the fight for civil rights. The city gained national attention when hundreds of protesters, including Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested and imprisoned in 1961 and 1962.

Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas before his presidency, also spoke at the Harris campaign office in Albany and said he had asked the campaign to send him to rural areas where he felt most comfortable.

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Kramon is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon