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President Biden exits the stage after speaking at the South Carolina First in the Nation dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 27.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Biden exits the stage after speaking at the South Carolina First in the Nation dinner in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 27.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Biden won the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, according to The Associated Press. It’s the first official nominating contest for the party, and Democrats hope it sends a message to black voters.
As a sitting president, Biden was widely expected to win the primary. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and author Marianne Williamson were also on the ballot.
Biden backed a move to change the party’s calendar this year to put the South Carolina primary at the front of the pack, ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s not a state Democrats expect to win in the general election, but by elevating its primary, the Democratic Party is signaling the importance of black voters, a crucial part of its base.
“When I was elected president, I said the days of the backbone of the Democratic Party being at the back of the line were over,” Biden said in a statement Saturday night. “That was a promise made and a promise kept. Now, you are the first in the nation.”
Despite skipping the unauthorized New Hampshire primary, Biden won that race after voters wrote in on his behalf, although the results will not count toward his official nomination at the party convention in August.
South Carolina boosted Biden’s 2020 bid
In 2020, Biden turned his difficult campaign around in the state, where Black voters make up about 60% of the party’s electorate.
He referenced that victory in his statement Saturday.
“In 2020, it was South Carolina voters who proved the experts wrong, breathed new life into our campaign, and put us on a path to winning the presidency,” Biden said. “Now, in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that they have put us on the path to winning the Presidency again and making Donald Trump a loser again.”
President Biden bows his head as the Rev. Dr. Jamey O. Graham Sr. speaks at St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Biden bows his head as the Rev. Dr. Jamey O. Graham Sr. speaks at St. John Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Biden’s campaign sees South Carolina as a springboard for his re-election bid and has poured resources into the state over the past month. Biden campaigned in a barbershop and spoke at a luncheon at a black church. Vice President Harris campaigned in the state on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and returned Friday to speak at a historically black university. First lady Jill Biden attended a gala for Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically black sorority.
“We know that to be the Democratic nominee and win the general election, you have to get a lot of support from voters of color,” said Josh Marcus-Blank, state operations communications director for the Biden campaign. “And that’s what South Carolina is all about.”
President Biden greets customers and staff at the Regal Lounge barbershop and spa in Columbia, SC, on January 27.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
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Jacquelyn Martin/AP
President Biden greets customers and staff at the Regal Lounge barbershop and spa in Columbia, SC, on January 27.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Polls have shown that Biden has lagged in approval ratings among younger voters and nonwhite voters, so analysts will pay close attention to turnout as a sign of whether Biden’s message is resonating.
But Terrance Woodbury of HIT Strategies, a group that researches the attitudes of black voters, cautioned against overanalyzing the results of this primary, a race that will likely appeal primarily to the party faithful, rather than the broader group of black voters that Biden needs to win in key states. like Georgia and North Carolina.
“The voters that Democrats need to mobilize in the general election are not participating in the primary elections,” Woodbury told NPR.
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