President Joe Biden wins South Carolina Democratic Primary, NBC News projects

President
Joe
Biden
has
won
the
South
Carolina
Democratic
primary,
NBC
News
projects.

As
of
9:00
p.m.
ET
and
with
60%
of
votes
in,
Biden
led
with
96%
of
the
vote.

The
other
two
Democrats
in
the
race,
House
Rep.

Dean
Phillips,
D-Minn.,
and
self-help
author
and
2020
Democratic
candidate

Marianne
Williamson
were
each
winning
around
2%
of
ballots.

“Congratulations,
Mr.
President,
on
a
good
old
fashioned
whooping,”
Phillips
wrote
on
X
as
the
vote
came
in.

Biden
likened
his
victory
Saturday
to
his
2020
primary
win,
which
helped
pave
the
way
to
his
nomination.

“In
2020,
it
was
the
voters
of
South
Carolina
who
proved
the
pundits
wrong,
breathed
new
life
into
our campaign,
and
set
us
on
the
path
to
winning
the
Presidency,” Biden said
in
a
statement
following
the
results.

“Now
in
2024,
the
people
of
South
Carolina
have
spoken
again
and
I
have
no
doubt
that
you
have
set
us
on
the
path
to
winning
the
Presidency
again
—
and
making
Donald Trump a
loser
—
again.”

Biden
will
be
awarded
all
55
Democratic
delegates
in
South
Carolina,
NBC
News
projected.
Neither
Phillips
or
Williamson
is
expected
to
meet
the
15%
threshold
of
the
vote
statewide,
or
in
any
congressional
district,
to
be
awarded
delegates.

The
party’s
eventual
nominee
will
need
1,968
total
delegates
nationwide
to
secure
the
nomination.

The
state’s
Republican
presidential
primary
will
be
Feb.
24,
pitting
South
Carolina’s
former
governor,
Nikki
Haley,
against
former
President
Donald Trump.

Biden’s
win
was
widely
expected,
given
his
incumbent
advantage
and
sizable
lead
in
polls
going
into
Election
Day.

The
president
also
has
a
track
record
of
success
in
Democratic
primaries
in
the
Palmetto
State:
His
2020
victory
in
that
year’s
primary
helped
pave
his
way
to
the
nomination.

But
what
mattered
more
than
winning
delegates
today
was
Biden’s
margin
of
success.

Results
are
still
coming
in,
but
the
eventual
tally
will
offer
the Biden campaign and
the
Democratic
party,
their
first
ballot
box
measure
of
how
well
the
president
is
faring
among
key
Democratic
party
constituencies.

His
projected
landslide
victory
will
also
offer
his campaign tailwind
as
he
heads
into
the
next
contest
in
Nevada
on
Tuesday,
where
36
delegates
are
up
for
grabs.
The
president
has
a campaign event
scheduled
in
Las
Vegas
on
Sunday.

South
Carolina
holds
open
primaries,
which
means
any
voter
registered
in
the
state
is
permitted
to
vote
in
either
party’s
primary.
The
Palmetto
State
was
this
year’s
first
official,
delegate-awarding
primary,
going
against
tradition.

Historically,
New
Hampshire
has
held
the
first
Democratic
primary.
But
the
Democratic
National
Committee
switched
the
official
order
under
the
direction
of
Biden.

The
president
did
not
win
the
2020
Democratic
primary
in
New
Hampshire.

The

DNC
argued
that
South
Carolina’s
demographic
diversity
was
more
representative
of
the
Democratic
Party
than
New
Hampshire,
which
would
make
the
state
a
more
accurate
reflection
of
a
campaign’s
health.

This
is
breaking
news.
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updates.