Note: This article has been corrected to better indicate the size of the crowd at Mount Moriah church.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, brought his presidential campaign to Spartanburg Thursday, pushing for universal pre-K education and tuition-free college.

The candidate said his plans would pay long-term dividends by helping people reach the middle class and stay out of prison.

“It is costly,” he said at a town hall event at Mount Moriah Baptist Church. The crowd mostly filled the 800-person capacity of the room. "It could be paid for with the “one trillion (dollars) in tax breaks to Trump and his friends in the 1 percent,” he said, which drew an ovation.

Sanders is leading or near the top of early polls among Democratic voters. He ran in 2016, but lost to the nominee, Hillary Clinton. His campaign staffers said Thursday because he ran a strong campaign three years ago, he already has an organization in place in South Carolina.

Earlier Thursday, Sanders toured the ReGenesis Community Health Center with its founder, Harold Mitchell, and discussed the importance of investing in urban communities that have been left behind.

“We need somebody to talk about real issues that affect us locally and statewide,” Mitchell said.

The town hall discussion focused on education and criminal justice reform at Mount Moriah was organized by the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus, and moderated by state Rep. Rosalyn Henderson-Myers of Spartanburg. Friday, Sanders will be in Greenville for another campaign stop.

Sanders reiterated his support for raises for teachers and more funding for child care -- which he said too many people cannot afford.

“All of our young people have a right to higher education,” he said. “They are more likely to become more productive members of society (and) less likely to end up in the criminal justice system.”

Sanders took a question from the audience by James Young, who asked whether felons should have the right to vote.

Sanders said, felons should be allowed that right because they paid their price by serving a prison term. He added that even those still in prison should be allowed to vote.

The Republican National Committee issued a statement during Sanders’ address, criticizing Sanders positions on tuition-free college and government-guaranteed jobs without offering a plan to pay for them.

RNC spokesperson Mandi Merritt stated Sanders’ plans “would stunt our country’s economic growth rather than lift people out of poverty.”