ROCK HILL, S.C. — Two candidates hoping to get the Democratic bid for president will be in Rock Hill, South Carolina Saturday afternoon.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker spoke at Freedom Temple and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg was at Clinton College.
South Carolina has one of the country's first presidential primaries, so a win in the state will help candidates build momentum.
Booker was joined by South Carolina Representative John King, who is the senator's first endorsement from a sitting lawmaker.
King said he backed the senator because of Booker's experience combating corruption as mayor of Newark.
He said he believes he will help him do the same for the country as president.
At Booker's town hall, Booker expressed passion to provide universal access to healthcare while driving down the cost of prescription drugs.
"Medicare for all, I feel strongly for that," Booker said.
Booker also spoke about ending family separations at the border, fully funding special education in all schools, and forgiving educator's debt.
"We're going to make sure public school teachers with debt are forgiven," Booker said.
Supporters said he discussed the ideas that needed to return to the country.
"We should call him Martin Luther King Jr-Jr. because he is preaching things and the ideas that need to return to the country," supporter Love Mills-Byrd said. "We have to have representation. Cory Booker or whoever who take on Trump and win."
Political experts said all eyes will be on the outcome of South Carolina's democratic primary because it will be the nation's first indicator of how minorities will vote.
The Republican National Convention issued a statement about Booker's visit to South Carolina, saying "Cory Booker fails to stand out from the pack as he embraces the radical left agenda of government-run healthcare, taxpayer-funded jobs, the costly Green New Deal, and late-term abortion that has come to be expected of 2020 candidates. While this may pass the test with the progressive base, it will fail with everyday South Carolina families."
Buttigieg spoke at Clinton College Saturday evening, saying his background as mayor is a unique strength he would bring to the Oval Office.
He said he wants to reach conservatives across the country.
"We're already thinking of our next step here and I want to learn and listen about the issues that area really on the minds of folks here as well as continue to get our message out," Buttigieg said.
In a statement from the GOP, officials said Mayor Pete Buttigieg has "quickly embraced the ideals of far-left Democrats that would raise taxes, expand government, and diminish the Constitution."
Democrat Beto O'Rourke rallied voters in Rock Hill Friday morning.
Crowds of people packed into Amelie's Bakery to hear him speak on issues such as immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriage.
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