GREENVILLE, S.C., (Reuters) – An outpouring of black voter support propelled Joe Biden to a convincing projected victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary yesterday, resurrecting his faltering White House bid and giving the former vice president a chance to present himself as the moderate alternative to front-runner Bernie Sanders.
Television networks and Edison Research, which conducted exit polls, projected Biden as the winner as soon as voting closed in the Southern state, while U.S. Senator Sanders of Vermont appeared headed to a distant second-place finish.
Exit polls showed the former vice president beating Sanders among a broad range of demographic and ideological groups, including those who identified themselves as “very liberal.”
With 30% of the precincts reporting, Biden had 52% of the vote to Sanders’ 18%. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer had 12% and all of the other contenders were well behind with single digits.
The win gives Biden a burst of momentum as the Democratic race to find a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump broadens quickly, with Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states in three days that will award one-third of the available national delegates.
The commanding margin will allow Biden, vice president under former President Barack Obama, to argue he is the most electable moderate alternative to Sanders, a democratic socialist whose surging campaign has rattled a Democratic establishment worried he is too far left to beat Trump in November.
It will also raise questions about the continued viability of most of the other contenders. Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar all were projected to finish well out of the running, with dwindling chances to mount a comeback.
