US President Joe Biden wins South Carolina Democratic primary as he prepares for re-election

US President Joe Biden has won South Carolina’s Democratic primary, securing a landslide 2024 victory in the state that propelled him to the White House four years ago.

Mr. Biden beat other Democrats by a wide margin in the South Carolina poll, including Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson.

The victory comes in a state that Mr. Biden and other party leaders had recommended to open the party’s 2024 primary schedule.

In choosing South Carolina, they cited the state’s much more racially diverse population compared to the traditional states of Iowa and New Hampshire, which are majority white.

In defiance of the Democratic National Committee, New Hampshire still held its first primary last month. But without the support of the president or the national party and without any delegates officially in play, the contest was non-binding.

Mr. Biden still won New Hampshire by a considerable margin after his supporters mounted a write-in campaign on his behalf.

South Carolina also played a central role in Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign, where a significant victory helped revive a flagging effort in other early-voting states and propelled him to the nomination.

Mr. Biden was aided in his campaign in South Carolina by Jim Clyburn, whose support in 2020 served as a long-awaited signal to the state’s black voters that Mr. Biden would be the right candidate to advance their interests.

Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have consistently thanked the state’s Democrats for their support.

The president recently told attendees at a party fundraiser “You are the reason I am president.”