President Joe Biden has again won the South Carolina presidential primary, marking his first official primary victory of the election season.
Despite low turnout, the Associated Press predicted Biden would win all 55 Democratic delegates in the state. Seven more delegates have been pledged by party leaders and elected officials, including South Carolina’s lone Democratic congressman, Jim Clyburn. Neither Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips nor author Marianne Williamson received at least 15% of the statewide vote and 15% of the vote in their congressional district, the thresholds needed to win delegates.
The president issued a statement shortly after the results were in his favor, placing special emphasis on black voters, who make up 26% of the state’s residents and make up a significant portion of South Carolina’s Democratic voting base.
“As I said four years ago, this campaign is for everyone who has been devastated, counted down, and left behind. That still applies today. With over 14 million new jobs, Black Americans “We are leaving no one behind, with the unemployment rate on record for 24 consecutive months, or two years in a row, below 4%, including the lowest unemployment rate on record.”
“In 2020, it was South Carolina voters who proved the experts wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and put us on the path to winning the presidency.
“Now, in 2024, the people of South Carolina have once again raised their voices and have no doubt that you have put us on the path to winning another presidential election and making Donald Trump a loser again. .
Biden continued, “When I was elected president, I said the days of the backbone of the Democratic Party being the rearguard are over. That was a promise, and a promise kept. Now, you’re in this country. I’m the first one.”
Last year, the Democratic National Committee rescheduled national elections, designated South Carolina as the first official state for Democratic presidential candidates, and stripped privileges from the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Mr. Biden did not participate in the New Hampshire primary, which state Democratic officials held over the objections of the national committee.
Democratic state Rep. Marvin Pendarvis of North Charleston said the primary is important regardless of turnout.
“Even though we knew Joe Biden was going to win South Carolina, everyone must have wondered why getting turnout was so important. Because it’s a first in the nation. Because we want to maintain that position going into 2028. And it’s a big thing for our party to be able to show why South Carolina was ranked No. 1. Because we represent the Democratic Party, not just in our diversity of values, but also in how we look and how we come together as a Democratic Party.
“We led the way for Joe Biden to become president in 2020,” Pendarvis added. “We will do it again in 2024.”
South Carolina’s primary elections are open to the public and open to all registered voters, but voters often vote exclusively for either the Democratic or Republican parties in the primary. About 13% of South Carolina’s 3.3 million registered voters participated in his 2016 Democratic primary, which the Democratic Party won. Hillary Clinton had the overwhelming majority, but 16% voted in the 2020 primary that separated Biden from the crowd.
South Carolina Republicans will go to the polls on February 24th, pitting former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley against former President Donald Trump.
Biden’s statement ended with a warning about the upcoming campaign. “The stakes in this election could not be higher. There are extreme and dangerous voices at work in this country, led by Donald Trump, who are determined to divide our country and set us back. We can’t afford to let that happen. We’ve come a long way in the last four years. America now has the strongest economy in the world and the lowest inflation rate of any major nation. Let’s keep moving forward. Let’s finish what we started together.”
