Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won the party’s South Carolina primary election Saturday evening in a major boost for the former front-runner’s campaign.
The former vice president will be awarded 20 of the 54 delegates up for grabs in the state’s primary, NBC News projected. His victory, called by the Associated Press around 7 p.m., comes just days before Super Tuesday next week, when 14 states hold primaries.
Biden’s strong results were bolstered by heavy support from those ages 45 and older as well as black voters in South Carolina, the latter constituting about 50 percent of the state’s primary voters. Early exit polls also showed Biden with the highest favorability ratings among voters.
As results rolled in on Saturday, Biden picked up the endorsement of former Democratic Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, who commented on his decision in a CNN appearance, saying, “It’s about beating Donald Trump, and to me it’s an electability issue.”
Biden, who led the packed 2020 Democratic race for months last year, lost his front-runner status to Vermont senator Bernie Sanders in recent weeks after Sanders won both the Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
Biden is currently polling at 18.8 percent nationally, in second place behind Sanders, who is at 29.6 percent support, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.
Also running in the primary are Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, billionaire Tom Steyer, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is polling in third place nationally, has decided to skip the early nominating contests and is not on the ballot.