JONESBORO, Ark. — Former President Bill Clinton, plunging right into his home state’s tight elections, implored Arkansans on Monday to support the Democratic ticket and defy predictions that turnout will plummet without a presidential race on the ballot.

“You don’t have the luxury of staying home, so I am pleading with you: Vote,” Mr. Clinton told college students at an outdoor rally here at Arkansas State University’s campus.

It was his first appearance of the fall campaign in the state that propelled him to the White House, and Mr. Clinton was notably spirited as he lashed out at out-of-state conservative groups that have hammered Senator Mark Pryor, the only Democrat remaining in the state’s congressional delegation and perhaps the most endangered Senate incumbent in the country this year.

Mr. Clinton — joined by Mr. Pryor; Gov. Mike Beebe; and former Representative Mike Ross, the Democratic nominee hoping to succeed Mr. Beebe — addressed selfie-snapping students at two state universities and seemed to relish being back on the Arkansas campaign trail. He spoke in blunt terms at the first rally of the day at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway about how Republicans are trying to make the election about President Obama, who is deeply unpopular here.