President Joe Biden is projected to win the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
Biden is projected to beat challengers Democratic Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson with more than 96% of the early vote, according to the AP. The DNC altered the primary calendar in 2023, bumping the Iowa causes from the traditional spot of first-in-the-nation and New Hampshire from its position as the first presidential primary, leading Saturday’s contest to be the first in which Biden appeared on the ballot.
Biden asked the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in December 2022 to make South Carolina appear at the front of the slew of Democratic primaries.
Biden performed poorly in Iowa and New Hampshire during the 2020 presidential primaries but won the South Carolina primary with 48.6% of the vote after an endorsement from Democratic South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn. His South Carolina win helped propel him to a strong Super Tuesday that left him permanently in pole position for the nomination.
Clyburn said in a CNN interview that the DNC moved the 2024 primary to boost Biden’s chance.
Former President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire Republican primary in January with 54.3% of the vote, and Biden won the New Hampshire Democratic primary, which the state government refused to reschedule, as a write-in candidate with 63.9% of the vote.
Trump beat the next candidate on the Republican ballot, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, by more than 11 points, and Biden beat the next candidate on the Democrat ballot, Phillips, by over 43 points.
Biden’s support among black voters, who are a large voting bloc in South Carolina, has waned since he won the 2020 primary, according to the AP. A December poll showed 63% of black Americans choosing Biden, who previously won 92% of the black vote in the 2020 election.
The Republican South Carolina primary will be held Feb. 24.
