U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the U.S. economy and his administration’s effort to revive American manufacturing, during his visit in Flex LTD, a factory that makes solar energy microinverters, in West Columbia, South Carolina, July 6, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden has won the South Carolina Democratic primary, NBC News projects.
Running against Biden were House Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and self-help author and 2020 Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson.
The state party will proportionally award 55 delegates for Democrats. The party’s primary candidates need 1,968 total delegates nationwide to secure the party’s nomination.
Biden’s win was widely expected, given his 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.
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.
It 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 Republican presidential primary will be held Feb. 24, and pit the state’s former governor Nikki Haley against former President Donald Trump.
Once final turnout data from Saturday is tallied, voters who did not vote in the Democratic primary will be eligible to vote in the Republican election.
Historically, New Hampshire has held the first Democratic primary. But the Democratic National Committee switched the official order under the direction of Biden, who lost the New Hampshire primary in 2020.
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. Check back for more updates.