Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary -- US media projects

WASHINGTON -- Multiple US media organizations on Saturday night projected President Joe Biden has won the 2024 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, the first official primary for the party.

The Associated Press, NBC News and others made the projection less than half an hour after the polls were closed.

Biden's easy victory follows his support for an unprecedented decision by the Democratic National Committee to prioritize South Carolina as the initial voting state over New Hampshire in the presidential primary.

Biden resurrected his 2020 presidential campaign after a strong primary performance in South Carolina, where African American voters play an outsized role in Democratic politics. That victory set him on the path to the Democratic nomination and the White House.

The president's campaign had dedicated significant resources to boosting voter turnout for Biden, seeking to mobilize Black voters, who are crucial to the Democratic vote in South Carolina.

Biden, who entered the South Carolina contest as the overwhelming front-runner, defeated the other long-shot Democrats on South Carolina's ballot, including US Representative Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson.

According to a vote tally by CNN, Biden has secured 96.8 percent of the votes already counted, while Williamson and Phillips received 1.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

A combined 55 delegates were in play in South Carolina, and they will be distributed proportionally according to the results. To secure the Democratic nomination, a candidate must accumulate close to 2,000 delegates in total.

According to a recent Emerson College Polling survey, the economy is the "most important issue" facing South Carolina, at 40 percent, followed by immigration, education, threats to democracy, healthcare, crime, housing affordability, and abortion access.

"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 on X, formerly Twitter.

"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," he said.

Republicans kicked off their voting season with the Iowa caucus in January, followed by the primary in New Hampshire. Former US President Donald Trump won both contests, leaving Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador and onetime South Carolina governor, as his lone challenger in the GOP race.

The US presidential primaries will last through June. The Republican National Convention, in which delegates will officially select the party's presidential nominee, will be held in July, while the Democratic National Convention will take place in August. The 2024 Election Day falls on Nov 5.