Albany – Democrat Jason Carter stumped at several churches Sunday as he barnstormed through a string of Georgia cities, hoping to get more souls to the polls on Election Day.
The Atlanta state senator planned stops in Columbus, Macon, Augusta, Savannah and Atlanta. And our AJC colleague Jeremy Redmon was with him every step of the way.
At his first top, at Albany's Second Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the Democrat invoked his grandfather, the former president, calling him a “person who has lived out his faith every day of his life.”
Carter is locked in a fierce election battle with Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, whose campaign had no public events on Sunday. Most polls show Deal with a slight lead over his rival, and Deal said Saturday he's confident he can avoid a runoff. But Carter said he's optimistic he can win outright on Tuesday, citing a surge in minority turnout in early voting.
At the Albany church, Redmon reports that Carter talked of his experience in the Peace Corps in South Africa and his friendship with a local leader named Selina Ndzukulu who was a community dynamo. She led the local school board and moonlighted as a preschool principal, the postmaster, a church leader, a landlord and a gardening guru.
“In my religion, every single person is created in the image of God. And every single person has the ability to make a giant change in their community," he said. "That means that we owe it to every single child in this state to give them an education that is going to help them succeed.”
Deal and Carter have turned to voters of faith throughout the campaign, and both participated in a faith forum last month that - not surprisingly - quickly turned political. Both have frequently highlighted their religious beliefs as they appealed to voters and vowed to support Israel if elected Georgia's leader.
Carter on Sunday also had a special request for the dozens of parishioners in Albany: He wanted them to pray for him as he crisscrosses the state with the election two days away.
They responded by singing “Give me a Clean Heart.”
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