President Joe Biden won his first official primary election in a season that has become increasingly predictable with each contest.
Biden and the Democratic National Committee had successfully lobbied to thwart tradition and designate South Carolina the first contest for the party’s presidential nomination instead of Iowa and New Hampshire. On Saturday, Biden handily won more than 95% of the vote in the state that had launched his campaign in 2020. The long-shot candidates Dean Phillips, a congressman from Minnesota, and Marianne Williamson, a self-help author, trailed far behind.
In two weeks, Donald Trump is expected to capture the win in the Republican primary in the same state, which Biden directly addressed in his statement soon after his victory was confirmed.
“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,” he said. “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.”
While Biden’s victory was a foregone conclusion in the state, voter turnout served as a proxy for enthusiasm about his candidacy, especially among the significant Black voting population. Leading up to the primary, there had been some signals he has lost traction among Black voters since 2020: his approval rating among Black adults is 42% in the latest Associated Press-Norc Center for Public Affairs Research poll, a substantial drop from the first year of his presidency.
In South Carolina, the results were mixed. Democrats touted early voting numbers: “With results still coming in, Black voters made up approximately 76% of the early vote – a significant increase over 2020, where Black voters made up 56% of the primary electorate,” said Michael Tyler, the Biden-Harris campaign’s communications director.
But overall voter turnout was on track to be much lower than previous primary years, indicating that even the high stakes of a Biden-Trump rematch might not be enough to mobilize voters for the incumbent. The campaign is hoping that the recent strong economic indicators will bolster Biden’s low approval rating, fueled by voter hesitations about his handling of the Israel-Gaza war, immigration and other domestic issues.
But the Phillips campaign, which had just upwards of 2,000 votes, tried to capitalize on the turnout issue anyway.
“I congratulate the President for getting the most votes tonight. But the lack of voter enthusiasm for a Trump-Biden rematch is being reflected in each and every Democratic primary result this election,” Phillips said in a statement on Saturday. “Voters are disappointed that they lack options beyond the choice between a threat to the fabric of the nation and a good man who voters want to pass the baton.”
While the national picture has yet to play out more fully, poll workers and state Democrats celebrated a successful election process, and South Carolina’s new status, on Saturday.
Sam Skardon, chairman of the Charleston county Democratic party, said he was happy volunteers and voters came “to gather and celebrate being first in the nation and all the work that everyone has put in it”.
“Everyone here volunteered long and hard to make this primary successful and to keep us in the top of the Democratic election cycle for years to come,” he said. “It means a lot for our party. It means a lot for our state. So thank you all so much.”
Jaime Harrison, chair of the DNC and himself a Black South Carolinian, spoke with reporters in Columbia on Saturday night and touted the state’s new significance on Saturday: “For South Carolina to go first is now a badge of honour and pride for so many folks,” he said.
