2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
{{Short description|none}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
| country = South Carolina
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 2016 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
| previous_year = 2016
| next_election = 2024 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
| next_year = 2024
| outgoing_members = NV
| election_date = February 29, 2020
| elected_members = AL
| votes_for_election = 64 delegates (54 pledged, 10 unpledged)
to the Democratic National Convention
The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
| party_name = no
| image1 = File:Joe Biden February 2020 crop.jpg
| image_size = 150x150px
| candidate1 = Joe Biden
| color1 = 224192
| home_state1 = Delaware
| delegate_count1 = 39
| popular_vote1 = 262,336
| percentage1 = 48.65%
| image2 = File:Bernie Sanders March 2020 (cropped).jpg
| candidate2 = Bernie Sanders
| color2 = 228b22
| home_state2 = Vermont
| delegate_count2 = 15
| popular_vote2 = 106,605
| percentage2 = 19.77%
| image3 = File:Tom Steyer by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
| candidate3 = Tom Steyer
| color3 = d2691e
| home_state3 = California
| delegate_count3 = 0
| popular_vote3 = 61,140
| percentage3 = 11.34%
| image4 = File:Pete Buttigieg by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
| candidate4 = Pete Buttigieg
| color4 = f2ba42
| home_state4 = Indiana
| delegate_count4 = 0
| popular_vote4 = 44,217
| percentage4 = 8.20%
| image5 = File:Elizabeth Warren by Gage Skidmore (cropped).jpg
| candidate5 = Elizabeth Warren
| color5 = b61b28
| home_state5 = Massachusetts
| delegate_count5 = 0
| popular_vote5 = 38,120
| percentage5 = 7.07%
| map = {{switcher
|County results
|Congressional district results
|Precinct Results
|default=1
}}
| map_caption = {{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
Biden
{{legend|#eef1fd|<30%}}
{{legend|#dee3fb|30–40%}}
{{legend|#b4beec|40–50%}}
{{legend|#8d9be2|50–60%}}
{{legend|#677ad7|60–70%}}
{{legend|#4158cd|70–80%}}
{{legend|#3345a2|80–90%}}
{{legend|#243279|90–100%}}
{{col-3}}
Sanders
{{legend|#ebf7ee|20-30%}}
{{legend|#d6efdc|30–40%}}
{{legend|#a3d5af|40–50%}}
{{legend|#73bc84|50–60%}}
{{legend|#3fa457|60–70%}}
{{legend|#005113|80-90%}}
{{legend|#165016|90-100%}}
{{col-3}}
Warren
{{legend|#fdeeee|20-30%}}
{{col-end}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
Buttigieg
{{legend|#7b1b7b|90–100%}}
{{col-3}}
Steyer
{{legend|#fcf0e2|20-30%}}
{{legend|#f9e1c6|30–40%}}
{{legend|#DFC27D|40-50%}}
{{col-3}}
Other
{{legend|#EFE7F5|20–30% tie}}
{{legend|#DECDE6|30–40% tie}}
{{legend|#D2B1D9|40–50% tie}}
{{legend|#AE8BB1|50% tie}}
{{legend|#808080|No votes}}
{{col-end}}
}}
{{ElectionsSC}}
The 2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on February 29, 2020, and was the fourth nominating contest in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. The South Carolina primary was an open primary and awarded 64 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 54 were pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary. Former vice president Joe Biden and senator Bernie Sanders were the only candidates to earn delegates. Biden won 48.7% of the popular vote and notably placed first in every county in the state; it was his first ever win in a presidential primary. Sanders came in second place and won 19.8% of the popular vote. Businessman Tom Steyer, who had staked his entire campaign on the state, placed third but did not surpass the threshold and dropped out of the race, endorsing Biden.
The primary was widely interpreted as a turning point for the 2020 primaries, with Joe Biden gaining momentum going into the pivotal Super Tuesday races three days later. Following successes in the previous primaries, former mayor Pete Buttigieg and senator Amy Klobuchar received very disappointing results and initially wanted to stay in the race, but they both suspended their campaigns shortly before Super Tuesday and endorsed Biden on the day before.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/tom-steyer-drops-out-of-the-2020-presidential-race-2020-2|title=Tom Steyer drops out of the 2020 presidential race|author=Grace Panetta|date=February 29, 2020|website=Business Insider|access-date=February 29, 2020}}{{cite web| url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/buttigieg-exits-presidential-race-after-claiming-iowa-win|title=Buttigieg exits presidential race ahead of Super Tuesday, cementing collapse following strong Iowa showing|last=Re|first=Gregg|date=2020-03-01|website=Fox News|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-01|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-drops-out.html|title=Amy Klobuchar Drops Out of Presidential Race and Plans to Endorse Biden |last1=Corasaniti|first1=Nick|last2=Burns|first2=Alexander|date=2020-03-02|website=The New York Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-02|df=mdy-all}} While Biden and former mayor Michael Bloomberg were left as the only moderates afterwards, the majority coalesced around Biden in the race against left-wing candidates Sanders and senator Elizabeth Warren.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/interactives/2020/biden-2020%E2%80%93election-results-by-county/|title=2016 vs. 2020: How Biden overturned Sanders' turf|author=Beatrice Jin|date=April 15, 2020|website=Politico|access-date=April 23, 2020}}
Procedure
Primary elections were held on Saturday, February 29, 2020. In the open primary, candidates had to meet a viability threshold of 15 percent at the congressional district or statewide level in order to be considered viable. The 54 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these, 35 were allocated on the basis of the results within each congressional district, between 3 and 8 were allocated to each of the state's seven congressional districts. Another 7 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 12 at-large delegates.{{cite web|title=South Carolina Democratic Delegation 2020|url=https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/SC-D|publisher=The Green Papers|date=March 31, 2019|access-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411213246/http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/SC-D|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}
The precinct reorganization meetings subsequently were held on March 14, 2020, to choose delegates for the county conventions, directly followed by county conventions until March 31, to elect delegates to the state convention. On May 30, 2020, the state convention met in Columbia to elect all pledged national convention delegates. Delegates were allowed to participate from remote places due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delegation also included 10 unpledged PLEO delegates: 8 members of the Democratic National Committee and 2 representatives from Congress.
Voting was done by each voter selecting choices on a screen, so the machine printed a ballot with chosen names and a bar code. Voters could check the printed names before putting the ballot in the ballot box, though few do that.{{Cite web |url=https://jhalderm.com/pub/papers/bmd-verifiability-sp20.pdf |title=Can Voters Detect Malicious Manipulation of Ballot Marking Devices? |last=Bernhard |first=Matthew, Allison McDonald, Henry Meng, Jensen Hwa, Nakul Bajaj, Kevin Chang, J. Alex Halderman |date=2019-12-28 |website=Halderman |access-date=2020-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109145330/https://jhalderm.com/pub/papers/bmd-verifiability-sp20.pdf |archive-date=January 9, 2020 |url-status=live }} A scanner counted the bar codes, not the names,{{Cite news |last=Geller |first=Eric |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/28/south-carolina-voting-machines-118046 |title=Doublecheck that ballot: Controversial voting machines make their primary debut in South Carolina |access-date=2020-02-29 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301000606/https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/28/south-carolina-voting-machines-118046 |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |url-status=live }} and no audit was required to check if the machines worked correctly.{{Cite web |url=https://www.verifiedvoting.org/state-audit-laws/ |title=State Audit Laws, South Carolina |language=en-US |access-date=2020-02-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104201852/https://www.verifiedvoting.org/state-audit-laws/ |archive-date=January 4, 2020 |url-status=live }}
Voters could absentee vote in-person until February 28, 2020, at 5:00 pm local time (EST) or submit absentee votes by mail. Election officials recommended applying to absentee vote by-mail a week in advance so that voters had time to receive their absentee ballot and mail it in by election day.{{cite web |title=2020 Election Calendar |url=https://www.scvotes.org/sites/default/files/2020%20Election%20Calendar%20(scVOTES)%202019-08-06_0.pdf |website=South Carolina Votes |publisher=South Carolina Election Commission |access-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-date=February 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201225633/https://www.scvotes.org/sites/default/files/2020%20Election%20Calendar%20(scVOTES)%202019-08-06_0.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |title=Absentee Voting |url=https://www.scvotes.org/absentee-voting |website=SC Votes |access-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214000445/https://www.scvotes.org/absentee-voting |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |url-status=live }} Polling places closed at 7:00 pm; however, anyone standing in line at 7:00 pm were still allowed to vote.{{cite news|title=South Carolina primary live updates: Democrats vote for 2020 candidates|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/live-blog/south-carolina-primary-live-updates-democrats-vote-2020-candidates-n1145296|last=Stahl|first=Chelsea|work=NBC News|access-date=February 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229222114/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/live-blog/south-carolina-primary-live-updates-democrats-vote-2020-candidates-n1145296|archive-date=February 29, 2020|url-status=live}}
class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;float:none;padding:5px;"
! colspan="2"| Pledged national |
Type
! {{abbr|Del.|Delegates}} |
---|
CD1
| 6 |
CD2
| 4 |
CD3
| 3 |
CD4
| 4 |
CD5
| 5 |
CD6
| 8 |
CD7
| 5 |
{{abbr|PLEO|Party leaders and elected officials}}
| 7 |
At-large
| 12 |
Total pledged delegates
! 54 |
Candidates
There was a $20,000 filing fee to get on the ballot, the largest in the nation. Along with the filing fee, an application{{cite web|url=http://scdp.org|title=Let's Elect More SC Democrats|website=South Carolina Democratic Party|access-date=April 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401213225/http://scdp.org/|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}} was required to be submitted to the South Carolina State committee by December 4, 2019.
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
- Joe Biden
- Pete Buttigieg
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Amy Klobuchar
- Bernie Sanders
- Tom Steyer
- Elizabeth Warren
- Michael Bennet (withdrawn)
- Cory Booker (withdrawn)
- John Delaney (withdrawn)
- Deval Patrick (withdrawn)
- Andrew Yang (withdrawn)
{{div col end}}
Additionally, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson were both accepted onto the ballot, but withdrew soon enough that they did not appear on the ballot.{{cite web |title=2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary Candidates {{!}} SCVotes |url=https://www.scvotes.org/2020-democratic-presidential-preference-primary-candidates |website=SC Votes |date=December 17, 2019 |access-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213034024/https://www.scvotes.org/2020-democratic-presidential-preference-primary-candidates |archive-date=February 13, 2020 |url-status=live }} Write-in votes are not permitted in South Carolina party primaries.{{cite web |title=Write-in Votes {{!}} SCVotes |url=https://scvotes.org/write-votes |website=SC Votes |access-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224020244/https://scvotes.org/write-votes |archive-date=February 24, 2020 |url-status=live }}
Polling
class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;" |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
!colspan=11|Polling aggregation |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
!Source of poll aggregation !Date !Dates !Un- |
270 to Win[https://www.270towin.com/2020-democratic-nomination/south-carolina-primary 270 to Win]
| Feb 28, 2020 | Feb 23–27, 2020 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|35.8% | 20.2% | 13.4% | 10.0% | 8.2% | 5.0% | 2.6% | 4.8% |
RealClear Politics[https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2020/president/sc/south_carolina_democratic_presidential_primary-6824.html RealClear Politics]
| Feb 28, 2020 | Feb 23–27, 2020 | {{party shading/Democratic}}|39.7% | 24.3% | 11.7% | 11.3% | 6.0% | 5.7% | 2.3% | –{{efn|Candidate percentages add up to more than 100%}} |
FiveThirtyEight[https://web.archive.org/web/20190303105940/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-d/south-carolina/ FiveThirtyEight]
| Feb 28, 2020 | until Feb 27, 2020{{Efn|name=trendline|FiveThirtyEight aggregates polls with a trendline regression of polls rather than a strict average of recent polls.|group=}} | {{party shading/Democratic}}|38.4% | 19.1% | 12.4% | 8.5% | 7.0% | 4.3% | 2.6% | 7.7%{{efn|Bloomberg 10.3%; Write-in votes are not permitted in SC primaries; this appears to be based on trendline regression|name=|group=}} |
colspan="3" |Average
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|38.0% | 21.2% | 12.5% | 9.9% | 7.1% | 5.0% | 2.5% | 4.9%{{Efn|Bloomberg only in 538, so no average can be made}} |
colspan=3 | South Carolina primary results (February 29, 2020)
| {{party shading/Democratic}} | 48.7% | 19.8% | 11.3% | 8.2% | 7.1% | 3.1% | 1.3% | – |
{{legend|lavender| – Debate qualifying poll as designated by the Democratic National Committee}}
class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;" |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan=16 | Polling in January and February 2020 |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! Poll source ! Date(s) ! Sample ! Margin ! Joe ! Michael ! Pete ! Tulsi ! Amy ! Bernie ! Tom ! Elizabeth ! Andrew ! Other ! Undecided |
style="background:#e9e9e9;"
| style="text-align:left;" | South Carolina primary (popular vote) | Feb 29, 2020 | – | – |{{party shading/Democratic}}|48.65% | – |8.2% |1.26% |3.13% |19.77% |11.34% |7.07% |0.2% |0.38%{{efn|Bennet with 0.14%; Booker with 0.12%; Delaney with 0.07%; Patrick with 0.05%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Atlas Intel[https://web.archive.org/web/20200229012907/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/20200228_SC.pdf Atlas Intel]
|Feb 25–28, 2020 | 477 (LV) |± 4.0% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|35% | – | 8% | 2% | 4% | 24% | 12% | 7% | – | 2% | 6% |
style="text-align:left;"|Emerson College[https://emersonpolling.reportablenews.com/pr/south-carolina-2020-biden-poised-to-win-his-first-contest Emerson College]
|Feb 26–27, 2020 | 550 (LV) |± 4.1% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|41% | – | 11% | 2% | 6% | 25% | 11% | 5% | – | – | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Trafalgar Group[https://www.fitsnews.com/2020/02/28/2020-first-in-the-south-democratic-presidential-primary-the-oracle-speaks/ Trafalgar Group]
|Feb 26–27, 2020 | 1,081 (LV) |± 2.99% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|43.9% | – | 9.6% | 1.7% | 5.9% | 22.8% | 10.5% | 5.6% | – | – | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Data for Progress[https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2020/2/27/biden-maintains-lead-in-south-carolina Data for Progress]
|Feb 23–27, 2020 | 1416 (LV) |± 2.6% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|34% | – |13% |3% |5% |25% |13% |7% | – | – | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://www.changeresearch.com/post/post-and-courier-change-research-south-carolina-primary Change Research] [https://1de9b613-f5ea-469f-bbea-e129fedcca0d.usrfiles.com/ugd/1de9b6_d767397866c5411fa74229dc0669a84b.pdf]/ [https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/new-sc-polls-show-biden-continues-to-lead-over-sanders/article_05d916aa-58df-11ea-9452-23751758f31e.html Post and Courier] |Feb 23–27, 2020 | 543 (LV) |± 5.1% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|28% | – |11% |5% |4% |24% |16% |12% | – | – |1% |
style="text-align:left;"|Starboard Communications[https://web.archive.org/web/20200227211335/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/20200227_SC.pdf Starboard Communications]
|Feb 26, 2020 | 1,102 (LV) |± 2.82% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|40% | – | 9% | 2% | 6% | 11% | 12% | 9% | – | – | 12% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 25, 2020 | colspan="16" | Tenth Democratic primary debate |
style="text-align:left;"|Monmouth University[https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/documents/monmouthpoll_sc_022720.pdf/ Monmouth University]
|Feb 23–25, 2020 | 454 (LV) |± 4.6% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|36% | – |6% |1% |4% |16% |15% |8% | – |0% |15% |
style="text-align:left;"|Clemson University[https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/biden-holds-wide-lead-in-sc-race-new-clemson-poll/article_354f073a-58aa-11ea-958f-bf34a5f650e9.html Clemson University]
|Feb 17–25, 2020 | 650 (LV) |± 3.8% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|35% | – |8% |2% |4% |13% |17% |8% | – | – |12% |
style="text-align:left;"|East Carolina University[https://surveyresearch-ecu.reportablenews.com/pr/biden-maintains-lead-in-south-carolina-sanders-in-second-steyer-a-close-third East Carolina University]
|Feb 23–24, 2020 | 1,142 (LV) |± 3.37% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|31% | – |6% |2% |2% |23% |20% |8% | – | – |8% |
style="text-align:left;"|Public Policy Polling[https://www.publicpolicypolling.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SouthCarolinaResultsFebruary2020.pdf Public Policy Polling]
|Feb 23–24, 2020 | 866 (LV) |± 3.3% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|36% | – |7% |6% |3% |21% |7% |8% | – | – |11%{{efn|Reported as "Someone else/Undecided"}} |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 22, 2020 | colspan="13" | Nevada caucuses |
bgcolor="lavender"
|style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1af1YadukuDouIbnoGHCAkIDgaRAXjr8M/view YouGov/CBS News] |Feb 20–22, 2020 | 1,238 (LV) |± 5.5% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|28% | – |10% |1% |4% |23% |18% |12% | – |3%{{efn|"Someone else" with 3%}} |1% |
bgcolor="lavender"
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"|Marist Poll/NBC News[http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/NBC-News_Marist-Poll_SC-NOS-and-Tables_2002241049.pdf Marist Poll/NBC News] |rowspan=2 |Feb 18–21, 2020 | 539 (LV) |± 6.0% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|27% | – |9% |3% |5% |23% |15% |8% | – |2%{{efn|"Other" with 2%}} |9% |
997 (RV)
|± 4.0% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|25% | – |9% |3% |5% |24% |15% |8% | – |2%{{efn|"Other" with 2%}} |9% |
bgcolor="lavender"
|style="text-align:left;"|Winthrop University[https://www.winthrop.edu/winthroppoll/current-findings.aspx Winthrop University] |Feb 9–19, 2020 | 443 (LV) |± 4.7% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|24% | – |7% |1% |4% |19% |15% |6% |1%{{efn|Accumulated responses until he withdrew; name not included afterwards.}} |2%{{efn|"Someone else" with 2%; Bennet and Patrick were included until they withdrew; Bennet received no voters; Patrick accumulated few enough to round down to 0%}} |22% |
style="text-align:left;"|University of Massachusetts Lowell[https://www.uml.edu/docs/2020-SC-Primary-topline_tcm18-322374.pdf University of Massachusetts Lowell]
|Feb 12–18, 2020 | 400 (LV) |± 7.5% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|23% | – |11% |4% |9% |21% |13% |11% | – |4%{{efn|"Another candidate" with 4%}} |4% |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research/The Welcome Party[https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/483577-biden-sanders-tied-for-first-place-in-south-carolina-poll#.Xk03Bx_F-_A.twitter Change Research/The Welcome Party]
|Feb 12–14, 2020 | 1015 (LV) | – |23% | – |15% |1% |8% |23% |20% |9% | – | – |1% |
style="text-align:left;"|East Carolina University[https://surveyresearch-ecu.reportablenews.com/pr/south-carolina-democratic-primary-biden-s-lead-shrinks-sanders-closing-in-steyer-in-third East Carolina University]
|Feb 12–13, 2020 | 703 (LV) |± 4.3% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|28% |6% |8% |1% |7% |20% |14% |7% | – |0% |8% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 11–12, 2020 | colspan="13" | New Hampshire primary; Yang withdraws from the race. |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 3, 2020 | colspan="13" | Iowa caucus |
style="text-align:left;"|Zogby Analytics[https://zogbyanalytics.com/news/913-the-zogby-poll-february-2020-presidential-election-report Zogby Analytics]
|Jan 31 – Feb 3, 2020 | 277 (LV) |± 5.9% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|28% |4% |7% |4% |2% |20% |15% |11% |1% |0%{{efn|Bennet and Patrick with 0%}} |8% |
style="text-align:left;"|East Carolina University[https://surveyresearch-ecu.reportablenews.com/pr/south-carolina-poll-biden-leads-presidential-primary-among-likely-democratic-voters-but-many-open-to-changing-their-mind-before-election-day-trump-and-graham-lead-comfortably-in-general-election-matchups East Carolina University]
|Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2020 | 469 (LV) |± 5.3% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|37% |1% |4% |2% |2% |14% |19% |8% |3% |0%{{efn|Bennet and Patrick with 0%}} |10% |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research/ Post and Courier[https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/sanders-and-steyer-closing-gap-on-biden-as-sc-presidential/article_b27fd0ca-43c6-11ea-9805-6b054517633c.html Change Research/ Post and Courier] |Jan 26–29, 2020 | 651 (LV) |± 4% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|25% | – |7% |3% |2% |20% |18% |11% |3% |1%{{efn|Delaney with 1%; Bennet and Patrick with 0%}} |10% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Jan 13, 2020 | colspan="13" | Booker withdraws from the race |
style="text-align:left;"|GQR Research/Unite the Country[https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/election/article239675533.html GQR Research/Unite the Country]{{efn|The poll's sponsor, Unite the Country, is a pro-Biden super PAC.}}
|Jan 9–13, 2020 |600 (LV) | – | {{party shading/Democratic}}|36%{{efn|data from 538.com}} | –{{efn|not released}} | 5%{{efn|data from 538.com}} | –{{efn|not released}} | –{{efn|not released}} | 15%{{efn|data from 538.com}} | 12%{{efn|data from 538.com}} | 10%{{efn|data from 538.com}} | –{{efn|not released}} | –{{efn|not released}} | –{{efn|not released}} |
bgcolor=lavender
|style="text-align:left;"|Fox News[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-january-5-8-2020 Fox News] |Jan 5–8, 2020 |808 (RV) |± 3.5% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|36% |2% |4% |1% |1% |14% |15% |10% |2% |3%{{efn|Booker with 2%; Bennet, Delaney, Patrick, and Williamson with 0%; "None of the above" with 1%}} |11% |
class="wikitable mw-collapsed mw-collapsible" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;" |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan="14" | Polling before January 2020 |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! Poll source ! Date(s) ! Sample ! Margin ! Joe ! Cory ! Pete ! Kamala ! Beto ! Bernie ! Tom ! Elizabeth ! Other ! Undecided |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research/ Post and Courier[https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/biden-s-sc-firewall-in-danger-front-runner-s-lead/article_517d465e-1c89-11ea-bce4-3b0ae19c6231.html Change Research/ Post and Courier] |Dec 6–11, 2019 |392 (LV) |± 4.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|27% | 5% | 9% | – | – | 20% | 5% | 19% | 13%{{efn|Gabbard with 4%; Bloomberg with 3%; Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Patrick and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Castro and Delaney with 0%}} | – |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Dec 3, 2019 | colspan="14" | Harris withdraws from the race |
style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/FairVote[https://fairvote.app.box.com/s/xahiy4th2qj5v50o64tagfb5fqc74s6k YouGov/FairVote] [https://www.fairvote.org/south_carolina_democratic_primary_poll_2020]
|Nov 22 – Dec 2, 2019 |400 (LV) |± 7.5% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|39% |2% |10% |2% | – |13% |7% |10% |13%{{efn|Gabbard with 4%; Yang with 3%; Bloomberg and Klobuchar with 2%; Delaney and Patrick with 1%; Bennet, Sestak and Williamson with 0%; Bullock and Castro with no voters}} |4% |
bgcolor=lavender
|style="text-align:left;"|Quinnipiac University[https://poll.qu.edu/south-carolina/release-detail?ReleaseID=3649 Quinnipiac University] |Nov 13–17, 2019 |768 (LV) |± 4.8% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|33% |2% |6% |3% |– |11% |5% |13% |7%{{efn|Yang with 4%; Gabbard, Klobuchar and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Messam, Patrick and Sestak with 0%}} |18% |
bgcolor=lavender
|style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pete-buttigieg-rises-in-iowa-new-hampshire-biden-back-atop-delegate-hunt-cbs-news-poll/ YouGov/CBS News] |Nov 6–13, 2019 |933 (RV) |± 4.2% |{{party shading/Democratic}}|45% |2% |8% |5% |– |15% |2% |17% |6%{{efn|Bullock, Delaney, Gabbard, and Klobuchar with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Messam, Sestak, Williamson, and Yang with 0%; someone else with 2%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|University of North Florida{{Cite web |url=https://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/aa/coas/porl/Final%20Press%20Nov%2018.pdf |title=University of North Florida |access-date=November 18, 2019 |archive-date=November 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118164645/https://www.unf.edu/uploadedFiles/aa/coas/porl/Final%20Press%20Nov%2018.pdf |url-status=dead }} |Nov 5–13, 2019 |426 (LV) |– |{{party shading/Democratic}}|36% |2% |3% |4% |– |10% |8% |10% |6%{{efn|Bloomberg, Gabbard, Klobuchar, Williamson and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Messam and Sestak with 0%; someone else with 1%}} |23% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Nov 1, 2019 | colspan=12 | O'Rourke withdraws from the race |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|Monmouth University[https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/documents/monmouthpoll_sc_102319.pdf/ Monmouth University] | Oct 16–21, 2019 | 402 (LV) | ± 4.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|33% | 2% | 3% | 6% | 1% | 12% | 4% | 16% | 7%{{efn|Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Castro, Delaney and Gabbard with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Ryan, Sestak and Williamson with 0%}} | 15% |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research/ Post and Courier[https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/warren-cutting-into-biden-s-lead-in-new-sc-democratic/article_3738ef56-f69f-11e9-97d4-9ff73bd65e23.html Change Research/ Post and Courier] | Oct 15–21, 2019 | 731 (LV) | ± 3.6% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 30% | 3% | 9% | 11% | 1% | 13% | 5% | 19% | 11%{{efn|Yang with 4%; Gabbard and Klobuchar with 3%; Bennet with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Ryan and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[https://github.com/optimus-forecasting-and-polling/Firehouse-0ptimus-Dem-Primary-October-2019/blob/master/Toplines_SC_October2019.pdf Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus] | Oct 8–10, 2019 | 607 (LV) | ± 3.7% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|32% | 2% | 4% | 5% | 1% | 8% | – | 16% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 33%{{efn|Yang with 2%}} | –{{efn| The poll did not announce this result separately; it is listed as part of 'Other'.}} |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6m3FrMzNqO5b1lVMU5PYWRGV0I0b3pjbEF6WjZaS2xnXzF3/view YouGov/CBS News] | Oct 3–11, 2019 | 915 (RV) | ±3.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|43% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 1% | 16% | 2% | 18% | 6%{{efn|Bennet, Klobuchar, Ryan, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Messam, and Sestak with 0%; "someone else" with 0%}} |– |
style="text-align:left;"|Gravis Marketing[http://orlando-politics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/South-Carolina-October-10-2019.pdf Gravis Marketing]
| Oct 3–7, 2019 | 516 (LV) | ± 4.3% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|34% | 6% | 0% | 4% | 2% | 10% | 7% | 9% | 10%{{efn|Bullock, Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Castro, Delaney, Gabbard and Williamson with 1%; Bennet and Ryan with 0%}} | 19% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|Fox News[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-news-poll-results-september-29-october-2-2019-south-carolina Fox News] | Sep 29 – Oct 2, 2019 | 803 (LV) | ± 3.5% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|41% | 3% | 2% | 4% | 0% | 10% | 4% | 12% | 8%{{efn|Bennet, Gabbard, Ryan, Williamson and Yang with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Klobuchar, and Messam with < 0.5%; Sestak with 0%; someone else with 3%}} | 16% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|Winthrop University | Sep 21–30, 2019 | 462 (RV) | ± 4.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|37% | 3% | 4% | 7% | 2% | 8% | 2% | 17% | 6%{{efn|Yang with 2%; Gabbard, Klobuchar, Castro and "Someone else" with 1%; Delaney, Sestak and Bennet with 0%; Bullock, Messam, Ryan and Williamson with less than 0.5%}} | 12% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|CNN/SSRS[http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/09/28/rel1_sc.pdf CNN/SSRS] | Sep 22–26, 2019 | 406 (LV) | ± 5.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|37% | 2% | 4% | 3% | 2% | 11% | 3% | 16% | 4%{{efn|Bennet, Klobuchar, Gabbard, and Williamson with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Ryan, and Yang with 0%}} | 10% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jqA3l_nC6bMk3_0rLpv4bj81pwJ3n4Aw/view YouGov/CBS News] | Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2019 | 849 (RV){{efn|poll results among likely voters of this RV sample}} | ± 4.3% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|43% | 2% | 4% | 7% | 1% | 18% | 1% | 14% | 9%{{efn|de Blasio, Bullock, Delaney, Gabbard, Klobuchar, Ryan, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Messam, Sestak and Williamson with 0%; someone else with 2%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/779e1a_2ff21b4e0ddf4f4ba42f371167557901.pdf Change Research]
| Aug 9–12, 2019 | 521 (LV) | ± 4.3% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 36% | 4% | 5% | 12% | 1% | 16% | 1% | 17% | 7%{{efn|Gabbard with 2%; Castro, Delaney, Klobuchar, Ryan, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, de Blasio, Gillibrand, Inslee, Messam, and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[https://github.com/optimus-forecasting-and-polling/Firehouse-0ptimus-Dem-Primary-July-2019/blob/master/Crosstabs_SC_July2019.pdf Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus] | Jul 23–25, 2019 | 554 (LV) | ± 3.8% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 31% | 2% | 4% | 10% | 0% | 9% | – | 12% | 8%{{efn|Yang with 1%; "A different Democratic candidate" with 7%}} | 24% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|Monmouth University[https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/documents/monmouthpoll_sc_072519.pdf/ Monmouth University] | Jul 18–22, 2019 | 405 (LV) | ± 4.9% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|39% | 2% | 5% | 12% | 1% | 10% | 2% | 9% | 3%{{efn|Bennet and Klobuchar with 1%; Castro, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, and Inslee with <1%; Bullock, Delaney, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Messam, Moulton, Ryan, Sestak, Williamson, and Yang with 0%}} | 17% |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByVu4fDHYJgVSHlRQWtlanA5MFFNdldVQnR6T2VPWlhFRmdr/view YouGov/CBS News] | Jul 9–18, 2019 | 997 (RV){{efn|poll results among likely voters of this RV sample}} | ± 3.8% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|39% | 3% | 5% | 12% | 2% | 17% | 1% | 12% | 9%{{efn|Delaney, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Klobuchar, Ryan, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Gravel, Messam, Moulton, and Sestak with 0%}} | – |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|Fox News[https://www.scribd.com/document/416578375/Fox-July-7-10-2019-Complete-South-Carolina-Topline-July-11-Release Fox News] | Jul 7–10, 2019 | 701 (LV) | ± 3.5% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 35% | 3% | 2% | 12% | 0% | 14% | 0% | 5% | 3%{{efn|Delaney, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, de Blasio, Bullock, Castro, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Klobuchar, Messam, Moulton, Ryan, and Sestak with 0%}} | 20% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Jul 9, 2019 | colspan="12" | Steyer announces his candidacy |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ymbocHDaQhK_kXU8VxIUdADKMZR3ZtDqjWUfuuk2GhA/edit#gid=0 Change Research]
| Jun 29 – Jul 4, 2019 | 421 (LV) | – | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 27% | 6% | 6% | 21% | 1% | 16% | 0% | 15% | 8%{{efn|Gabbard with 2%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Gravel, Inslee, Moulton, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[http://go.crooked.com/PollerCoaster2020PreDebate Change Research]
| Jun 17–20, 2019 | 308 (LV) | – | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 39% | 5% | 11% | 9% | 5% | 13% | 0% | 15% | 5%{{efn|Yang with 2%; Bullock, de Blasio, and Ryan with 1%; Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Klobuchar, Messam, Moulton, Swalwell, and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/aa5e0b_42aa9c62ff9f40beb61e7e1b92f8198e.pdf Change Research]
| Jun 11–14, 2019 | 933 (LV) | ± 3.2% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 37% | 5% | 11% | 9% | 4% | 9% | – | 17% | 8%{{efn|Yang with 3%; de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Klobuchar, and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Messam, Moulton, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%}} | – |
bgcolor=lavender
| style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/CBS News[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByVu4fDHYJgVNFB2S3h5MUQzUzVDNjBQaExTdkZDQ0RGcTU4/view YouGov/CBS News] | May 31 – Jun 12, 2019 | 552 (LV) | – | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 45% | 4% | 6% | 7% | 4% | 18% | – | 8% | 8%{{efn|Gillibrand, Gravel, Klobuchar, Messam, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, de Blasio, Delaney, Gabbard, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Moulton, Ryan, Swalwell, and Williamson with 0%; others with 3%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Zogby Analytics[https://web.archive.org/web/20190623145316/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/20190615_National.xlsx Zogby Analytics]
| May 23–29, 2019 | 183 (LV) | ± 7.2% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 36% | 4% | 7% | 4% | 2% | 13% | – | 12% | 4%{{efn|Gillibrand with 2%; Castro, Gabbard, Hickenlooper, and Inslee with 1%; Delaney, Klobuchar, and Yang with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Tel Opinion Research[https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2e96a7_f06831243ccb412695c7e2a6bf887f1d.pdf Tel Opinion Research]*
| May 22–24, 2019 | 600 (LV) | ± 4.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 37% | 2% | 3% | 7% | – | 10% | – | 8% | – | 32% |
style="text-align:left;"|Crantford Research[https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article230531019.html Crantford Research]
| May 14–16, 2019 | 381 (LV) | ± 5.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 42% | 4% | 8% | 10% | – | 7% | – | 8% | – | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://docsend.com/view/5eniwwe Change Research]
| May 6–9, 2019 | 595 (LV) | ± 4.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 46% | 4% | 8% | 10% | 2% | 15% | – | 8% | 5%{{efn|Yang with 2%; Abrams, Klobuchar, and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%}} | – |
style="text-align:left;"|Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[http://firehousestrategies.com/may-2019-survey/ Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506121307/http://firehousestrategies.com/may-2019-survey/ |date=May 6, 2019 }} | Apr 30 – May 2, 2019 | 568 (LV) | ± 4.5% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 48% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 1% | 12% | – | 5% | 1%{{efn|Klobuchar with 1%}} | 20% |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Apr 25, 2019 | colspan="12" | Biden announces his candidacy |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Apr 14, 2019 | colspan="12" | Buttigieg announces his candidacy |
rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/biden-still-leads-but-abrams-buttigieg-join-front-runners-in/article_2c8f9d32-57eb-11e9-abc5-531783c41f18.html Change Research]
| rowspan=2| Mar 31 – Apr 4, 2019 | rowspan=2| 744 (LV) | rowspan=2| ± 3.6% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 32% | 9% | 7% | 10% | 9% | 14% | – | 6% | 12%{{efn|Abrams with 7%; Castro, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, Gabbard, Inslee, McAuliffe, Swalwell, and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
–
| 12% | 12% | 15% | 16% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 24% | – | 11% | 12%{{efn|Castro, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, and Klobuchar with 2%; Delaney, Inslee, Messam, and Yang with 1%; Gabbard and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Mar 14, 2019 | colspan="12" | O'Rourke announces his candidacy |
style="text-align:left;"|Emerson College[http://emersonpolling.com/2019/03/02/south-carolina-2020-poll-biden-leads-primary-field-by-wide-margin-president-trump-popular-with-base/ Emerson College] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427144740/http://emersonpolling.com/2019/03/02/south-carolina-2020-poll-biden-leads-primary-field-by-wide-margin-president-trump-popular-with-base/ |date=April 27, 2019 }}
| Feb 28 – Mar 2, 2019 | 291 (LV) | ± 5.7% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 37% | 6% | 0% | 9% | 5% | 21% | – | 5% | 16%{{efn|Gillibrand with 3%; Bloomberg and Gabbard with 2%: Brown and Klobuchar with 1%; Castro, and Delaney with 0%; others with 8%}} | – |
rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"|Change Research[https://docsend.com/view/y8dpeq2 Change Research]
| rowspan=2| Feb 15–18, 2019 | rowspan=2| 600 (LV) | rowspan=2| ± 4.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 36% | 10% | – | 13% | 8% | 14% | – | 9% | 12%{{efn|Brown and Holder with 2%; Bloomberg, Castro, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, Swalwell, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Cuomo, de Blasio, Delaney, McAuliffe, and Williamson with 0%}} | – |
–
| 28% | 1% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 35% | – | – | – | 20% | 18%{{efn|Klobuchar with 5%; Castro with 4%; Delaney with 3%; Gabbard and Williamson with 2%; Gillibrand and Yang with 1%}} | – |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 19, 2019 | colspan="12" | Sanders announces his candidacy |
style="background:lightyellow;"
| style="border-right-style:hidden;"| | style="border-right-style:hidden;"| Feb 9, 2019 | colspan="12" | Warren announces her candidacy |
style="text-align:left;"|Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123919/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/20190207.xlsx Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus] | Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2019 | 557 (LV) | ± 4.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 36% | 5% | – | 12% | 2% | 8% | – | 4% | 2%{{efn|Klobuchar with 1%; Gillibrand with 0%}} | 31% |
class="wikitable mw-collapsed mw-collapsible" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;" |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! colspan=10 | Head-to-head polling |
valign=bottom style="font-size:90%;"
! Poll source ! Date(s) ! Sample ! Margin ! Joe ! Pete ! Bernie ! Elizabeth ! Other ! Undecided |
rowspan=6 style="text-align:left;"|YouGov/FairVote[https://www.fairvote.org/south_carolina_democratic_primary_poll_2020#spread_of_sc_dem_frontrunner_rankings]{{efn|But for the Biden vs Warren matchup, 'undecided' and 'other' voters are not included in the listed percentages for this poll.}}
| rowspan=6 |Nov 22 – Dec 2, 2019 | rowspan=6 |400 (LV) | rowspan=6 |± 7.5% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|73% | 27% | – | – | – | – |
{{party shading/Democratic}}|66%
| – | 34% | – | – | – |
{{party shading/Democratic}}|61%
| – | – | 29% | {{efn|Would not vote with 4%}} | 6% |
–
| 39% | {{party shading/Democratic}}|61% | – | – | – |
–
| 36% | – | {{party shading/Democratic}}|64% | – | – |
–
| – | {{party shading/Democratic}}|54% | 46% | – | – |
rowspan=3 style="text-align:left;"|Tel Opinion Research
| rowspan=3| May 22–24, 2019 | rowspan=3| 600 | rowspan=3| ± 4.0% | {{party shading/Democratic}}| 71% | 10% | – | – | – | 19% |
{{party shading/Democratic}}| 70%
| – | 15% | – | – | 16% |
{{party shading/Democratic}}| 67%
| – | – | 15% | – | 18% |
Results
{{multiple image
|image1=South Carolina Democratic presidential primary election results by county (vote share), 2020.svg
|total_width=500
|alt1=county
|caption1=Popular vote share by county
{{legend|#839de2|Biden—30–40%}}
{{legend|#5377d7|Biden—40–50%}}
{{legend|#2d56c2|Biden—50–60%}}
{{legend|#224192|Biden—60–70%}}
{{legend|#1b3372|Biden—70–80%}}
|image2=South Carolina Democratic presidential primary election results by congressional district (vote share), 2020.svg
|alt2=congressional district
|caption2=Popular vote share by congressional district
{{legend|#839de2|Biden—30–40%}}
{{legend|#5377d7|Biden—40–50%}}
{{legend|#2d56c2|Biden—50–60%}}
{{legend|#224192|Biden—60–70%}}
}}
Official results show that Joe Biden won the Democratic primary with 48.65% of the vote, with Bernie Sanders coming in second with 19.77%.{{cite web|url=https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/100517/Web02-state.241406/#/|title=2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary Election Night Reporting: Official Results|website=SCVotes.org|date=March 2, 2020|access-date=March 2, 2020}}{{cite web |title=Biden wins South Carolina, hopes for Super Tuesday momentum |url=https://apnews.com/b9872b58b495fd17044f359338ab3f2a |last1=Peoples |first1=Steve |last2=Kinnard |first2=Meg |last3=Barrow |first3=Bill |date=February 29, 2020 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=February 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229231101/https://apnews.com/b9872b58b495fd17044f359338ab3f2a |archive-date=February 29, 2020 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=South Carolina 2020 Primary: Live Results |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/29/us/elections/results-south-carolina-primary-election.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 29, 2020 |access-date=February 29, 2020}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Pete|Buttigieg}}
| 44,217
| 8.20
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Elizabeth|Warren}}
| 38,120
| 7.07
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Amy|Klobuchar}}
| 16,900
| 3.13
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Tulsi|Gabbard}}
| 6,813
| 1.26
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Andrew|Yang}} (withdrawn)
| 1,069
| 0.20
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Michael|Bennet}} (withdrawn)
| 765
| 0.14
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Cory|Booker}} (withdrawn)
| 658
| 0.12
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|John|Delaney|dab=Maryland politician}} (withdrawn)
| 352
| 0.07
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{sortname|Deval|Patrick}} (withdrawn)
| 288
| 0.05
|- class="sortbottom"
! Total
! 539,263
! 100%
! 54
|}
=Results by county=
Biden won every county.{{Cite web|date=2020-03-01|title=Joe Biden wins the South Carolina presidential primary|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-29/polls-close-in-south-carolina-as-biden-hopes-for-a-jumpstart|access-date=2021-02-21|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Election Night Reporting|url=https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/100517/Web02-state.242137/#/access-to-races|access-date=2021-02-21|website=www.enr-scvotes.org}}
width="70%" class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;font-size:90%;line-height:1.0;" |
bgcolor=lightgrey
! width="11%" | County ! width="7%" | Biden ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Sanders ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Steyer ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Buttigieg ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Warren ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Klobuchar ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Gabbard ! width="7%" | % ! width="7%" | Others ! width="7%" | % !Rejected ballots !Total votes !Turnout of registered electors in % |
Abbeville
|1,129 |57.69 |286 |14.61 |312 |15.94 |80 |4.09 |60 |3.07 |42 |2.15 |26 |1.33 |22 |1.13 |3 |1,960 |12.54 |
Aiken
|6,769 |44.81 |3,169 |20.98 |1,988 |13.16 |1,246 |8.25 |1,030 |6.82 |607 |4.02 |194 |1.28 |102 |0.67 |33 |15,138 |13.00 |
Allendale
|552 |58.29 |119 |12.57 |241 |25.45 |9 |0.95 |17 |1.80 |2 |0.21 |2 |0.21 |5 |0.53 |0 |947 |16.37 |
Anderson
|5,564 |41.83 |3,124 |23.49 |1,808 |13.59 |988 |7.43 |984 |7.40 |524 |3.94 |230 |1.73 |80 |0.61 |16 |13,318 |11.05 |
Bamberg
|1,099 |58.77 |277 |14.81 |387 |20.70 |26 |1.39 |43 |2.30 |19 |1.02 |4 |0.21 |15 |0.81 |6 |1,876 |19.82 |
Barnwell
|1,068 |59.63 |274 |15.30 |308 |17.20 |32 |1.79 |49 |2.74 |26 |1.45 |13 |0.73 |21 |1.17 |2 |1,793 |13.08 |
Beaufort
|11,275 |45.83 |3,749 |15.24 |3,009 |12.23 |3,067 |12.47 |1,699 |6.91 |1,371 |5.57 |290 |1.18 |143 |0.58 |43 |24,646 |18.81 |
Berkeley
|10,573 |49.08 |4,598 |21.34 |2,030 |9.42 |1,793 |8.32 |1,495 |6.94 |527 |2.45 |383 |1.78 |143 |0.66 |31 |21,573 |16.23 |
Calhoun
|1,118 |59.88 |288 |15.43 |302 |16.18 |47 |2.52 |42 |2.25 |34 |1.82 |25 |1.34 |11 |0.58 |5 |1,872 |17.69 |
Charleston
|28,292 |44.30 |12,245 |19.17 |4,734 |7.41 |8,078 |12.65 |6,932 |10.85 |2,302 |3.60 |1,013 |1.59 |268 |0.42 |84 |63,948 |21.78 |
Cherokee
|1,812 |57.14 |674 |21.22 |347 |10.94 |104 |3.28 |106 |3.34 |66 |2.08 |38 |1.20 |25 |0.79 |2 |3,173 |9.60 |
Chester
|2,033 |63.77 |633 |19.86 |223 |6.99 |102 |3.20 |88 |2.76 |58 |1.82 |23 |0.72 |28 |0.89 |6 |3,194 |15.56 |
Chesterfield
|1,825 |64.06 |537 |18.85 |225 |7.90 |90 |3.16 |76 |2.67 |44 |1.54 |26 |0.91 |26 |0.92 |3 |2,852 |10.93 |
Clarendon
|2,694 |68.50 |487 |12.38 |434 |11.03 |97 |2.47 |83 |2.11 |62 |1.58 |36 |0.92 |40 |1.03 |15 |3,948 |17.14 |
Colleton
|2,318 |57.76 |679 |16.92 |64 |1.59 |73 |1.82 |174 |4.34 |526 |13.11 |174 |4.34 |26 |0.63 |5 |4,018 |16.00 |
Darlington
|4,231 |61.11 |1,105 |15.96 |911 |13.16 |287 |4.15 |208 |3.00 |86 |1.24 |55 |0.79 |41 |0.59 |16 |6,940 |16.03 |
Dillon
|1,485 |64.09 |362 |15.62 |319 |13.77 |39 |1.68 |39 |1.68 |38 |1.64 |8 |0.35 |27 |1.17 |9 |2,326 |12.47 |
Dorchester
|7,657 |47.55 |3,494 |21.70 |1,509 |9.37 |1,457 |9.05 |1,189 |7.38 |403 |2.50 |316 |1.96 |77 |0.48 |21 |16,123 |15.24 |
Edgefield
|1,327 |55.87 |419 |17.64 |370 |15.58 |77 |3.24 |89 |3.75 |44 |1.85 |20 |0.84 |29 |1.21 |7 |2,382 |13.84 |
Fairfield
|2,352 |61.09 |428 |11.12 |773 |20.08 |84 |2.18 |88 |2.29 |47 |1.22 |50 |1.30 |28 |0.73 |10 |3,860 |24.63 |
Florence
|8,676 |58.82 |2,635 |17.86 |1,877 |12.73 |569 |3.86 |607 |4.12 |221 |1.50 |83 |0.56 |82 |0.57 |29 |14,779 |16.76 |
Georgetown
|4,776 |52.46 |1,574 |17.62 |1,018 |11.39 |697 |7.80 |376 |4.21 |327 |3.66 |114 |1.28 |52 |0.59 |16 |8,950 |20.19 |
Greenville
|20,661 |38.17 |13,376 |24.71 |5,774 |10.67 |5,688 |10.51 |5,207 |9.62 |2,352 |4.35 |830 |1.53 |235 |0.43 |57 |54,180 |16.45 |
Greenwood
|2,693 |47.88 |1,060 |18.85 |1,091 |19.40 |278 |4.94 |241 |4.29 |165 |2.93 |57 |1.01 |39 |0.70 |7 |5,631 |13.75 |
Hampton
|1,116 |53.09 |319 |15.18 |541 |25.74 |33 |1.57 |40 |1.90 |18 |0.86 |12 |0.57 |23 |1.10 |10 |2,112 |16.46 |
Horry
|13,281 |43.82 |6,757 |22.29 |3,841 |12.67 |2,877 |9.49 |1,724 |5.69 |1,269 |4.19 |387 |1.28 |175 |0.58 |59 |30,370 |13.02 |
Jasper
|1,794 |52.75 |543 |15.97 |573 |16.85 |189 |5.56 |122 |3.59 |110 |3.23 |42 |1.23 |28 |0.83 |5 |3,406 |16.72 |
Kershaw
|3,577 |55.29 |1,083 |16.74 |896 |13.85 |361 |5.58 |308 |4.76 |144 |2.23 |67 |1.04 |34 |0.54 |13 |6,483 |15.37 |
Lancaster
|4,340 |51.48 |1,695 |20.11 |365 |4.33 |858 |10.18 |567 |6.73 |422 |5.01 |112 |1.33 |71 |0.84 |15 |8,445 |13.43 |
Laurens
|2,413 |49.76 |1,001 |20.64 |748 |15.43 |204 |4.21 |244 |5.03 |120 |2.47 |73 |1.51 |46 |0.95 |10 |4,859 |12.19 |
Lee
|1,876 |68.87 |332 |12.19 |364 |13.36 |49 |1.80 |53 |1.95 |11 |0.40 |18 |0.66 |21 |0.76 |7 |2,731 |23.50 |
Lexington
|9,720 |39.87 |5,758 |23.62 |2,827 |11.60 |2,573 |10.55 |2,094 |8.59 |795 |3.26 |502 |2.06 |111 |0.46 |15 |24,395 |13.00 |
Marion
|2,735 |66.87 |625 |15.28 |508 |12.42 |60 |1.47 |78 |1.91 |38 |0.93 |13 |0.32 |33 |0.81 |13 |4,103 |19.52 |
Marlboro
|1,485 |61.44 |309 |12.78 |487 |20.15 |29 |1.20 |35 |1.45 |34 |1.41 |13 |0.54 |25 |1.04 |9 |2,426 |13.59 |
McCormick
|730 |48.18 |208 |13.73 |381 |25.15 |68 |4.49 |42 |2.77 |54 |3.56 |16 |1.06 |16 |1.06 |4 |1,519 |20.62 |
Newberry
|1,787 |55.41 |482 |14.95 |460 |14.26 |205 |6.36 |124 |3.84 |83 |2.57 |57 |1.77 |27 |0.84 |4 |3,229 |13.66 |
Oconee
|2,181 |37.60 |1,392 |24.00 |742 |12.79 |560 |9.66 |405 |6.98 |403 |6.95 |81 |1.40 |36 |0.61 |5 |5,805 |11.07 |
Orangeburg
|9,089 |69.86 |1,388 |10.67 |1,690 |12.99 |238 |1.83 |370 |2.84 |72 |0.55 |71 |0.55 |92 |0.70 |20 |13,030 |22.91 |
Pickens
|2,513 |32.62 |2,141 |27.79 |901 |11.70 |761 |9.88 |823 |10.68 |375 |4.87 |163 |2.12 |27 |0.35 |4 |7,708 |10.45 |
Richland
|35,869 |53.15 |11,347 |16.81 |8,269 |12.25 |4,491 |6.65 |5,392 |7.99 |1,285 |1.90 |528 |0.78 |309 |0.45 |65 |67,555 |25.71 |
Saluda
|782 |54.01 |262 |18.09 |243 |16.78 |54 |3.73 |51 |3.52 |27 |1.86 |15 |1.04 |14 |0.97 |3 |1,451 |12.52 |
Spartanburg
|9,977 |42.31 |5,870 |24.89 |2,911 |12.34 |1,849 |7.84 |1,816 |7.70 |749 |3.18 |278 |1.18 |131 |0.56 |31 |23,613 |12.45 |
Sumter
|8,375 |65.41 |1,673 |13.07 |1,667 |13.02 |406 |3.17 |386 |3.01 |122 |0.95 |74 |0.58 |101 |0.80 |23 |12,827 |18.34 |
Union
|1,295 |57.22 |430 |19.00 |322 |14.23 |58 |2.56 |73 |3.23 |34 |1.50 |19 |0.84 |32 |1.42 |2 |2,265 |13.72 |
Williamsburg
|3,682 |70.08 |708 |13.48 |605 |11.52 |47 |0.89 |94 |1.79 |19 |0.36 |45 |0.86 |54 |1.04 |16 |5,270 |24.34 |
York
|11,556 |43.60 |6,551 |24.72 |1,242 |4.69 |3,110 |11.73 |2,307 |8.70 |1,241 |4.68 |338 |1.28 |159 |0.60 |35 |26,539 |14.44 |
Statewide total
!262,336 !48.65 !106,605 !19.77 !61,140 !11.34 !44,217 !8.20 !38,120 !7.07 !16,900 !3.13 !6,813 !1.26 !12,132 !2.25 !794 !540,057 !16.38 |
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Aftermath
Joe Biden's overwhelming victory, his first-ever primary win in his three presidential runs,{{cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-bidens-big-south-carolina-win-might-mean-for-sanders/|title=What Biden's Big South Carolina Win Might Mean For Sanders|last=Silver|first=Nate|website=FiveThirtyEight|date=March 1, 2020|quote=Saturday was Joe Biden's first-ever win in a presidential primary or caucus.|access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/1/21159961/south-carolina-primary-biden-win-clyburn|title=Rep. Jim Clyburn's endorsement gave Biden some serious momentum in South Carolina|last=Aleem|first=Zeeshan|website=Vox|date=March 1, 2020|quote=This is the first primary of the 2020 season Biden has won — and the first primary in three presidential runs that he's ever won [...].|access-date=March 1, 2019}} gave his campaign new momentum going into Super Tuesday after lackluster performances in Iowa and New Hampshire and a distant second-place finish in Nevada.{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/south-carolina-primary-results-2020/h_4d722feaef01e08ad51294df7c2adb1a|title=Biden is leading the popular vote to date|first1=Veronica|last1=Rocha|first2=Mike|last2=Hayes|date=March 1, 2020|publisher=CNN|access-date=March 1, 2020}} The Biden campaign claimed that the outcome proved he had the most diverse coalition of any Democratic candidate, as Iowa's and New Hampshire's Democratic electorates are over 90% white, while South Carolina's Democratic electorate is nearly 60% black.{{cite web|title=Joe Biden Takes A Swipe At Bernie Sanders In South Carolina Victory Speech |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-south-carolina-victory_n_5e5b19d2c5b6450a30bfb91b|last=Golshan|first=Tara|date=March 1, 2020|work=HuffPost|access-date=March 1, 2020}} Biden's success in the primary helped him overtake the lead in the then-popular vote from front-runner Bernie Sanders, who came in second.
Despite Pete Buttigieg's initial claims that he would stay in the race following the primary, he suspended his presidential campaign the next day. In his concession speech, Buttigieg claimed he would have a negative effect on the race if he stayed in, which many took as Buttigieg not wanting to split the moderate vote in order to assist Biden.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/buttigieg-exits-presidential-race-after-claiming-iowa-win|title=Buttigieg exits presidential race ahead of Super Tuesday, cementing collapse following strong Iowa showing|last=Re|first=Gregg|date=March 1, 2020|website=Fox News|access-date=March 1, 2020}} However, while Buttigieg called Biden before making his announcement, he did not immediately endorse him. One day later, on the day before Super Tuesday, Buttigieg publicly endorsed Biden while speaking at Biden's rally in Dallas, Texas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/pete-buttigieg-endorse-joe-biden-president-n1147236|title=Pete Buttigieg endorses Joe Biden for president|website=NBC News|date=March 3, 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-05}}
Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar both had lackluster performances in South Carolina.{{cite news|title=Election Update: South Carolina — And A Bunch Of New Polls — Are Showing A Close Super Tuesday Race|url= https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-south-carolina-and-a-bunch-of-new-polls-are-showing-a-close-super-tuesday-race/|last=Silver|first=Nate|publisher=FiveThirtyEight|access-date=March 1, 2020}} However, both candidates stated that they expected the outcome and still had a strong chance of doing well on Super Tuesday.{{cite news|title=Buttigieg wins just 2 percent of black voters in South Carolina, exit polls show|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/live-blog/south-carolina-primary-live-updates-democrats-vote-2020-candidates-n1145296/ncrd1146321#liveBlogHeader|last=Kapur|first=Sahil|work=NBC News|access-date=March 1, 2020}} Nonetheless, on March 2, two days after the primary and the day before Super Tuesday, Klobuchar dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/02/klobuchar-to-drop-out-of-2020-campaign-endorse-biden-118823|title=Klobuchar to drop out of 2020 campaign, endorse Biden|first=Elena|last=Schneider|date=March 2, 2020|website=POLITICO}}
Billionaire Tom Steyer, whose campaign was reliant on getting the black vote, dropped out after a lackluster performance in the state. Steyer's campaign had concentrated its advertising efforts on South Carolina, spending more money on television commercials in the state than all the other Democratic candidates combined. Steyer stated in his concession speech that he did not see a path to winning the presidency based on the results.
On February 28, 2020, former Governor of Virginia Terry McAuliffe stated that he would consider endorsing Biden if he performed well in the South Carolina primary.{{cite news |last1=Balz |first1=Dan |last2=Viser |first2=Matt |last3=Scherer |first3=Michael |title=Va.'s McAuliffe may endorse Biden after S.C. primary |url=https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Va-s-McAuliffe-may-endorse-Biden-after-S-C-15092905.php |access-date=February 29, 2020 |work=The Hour |date=February 28, 2020}} Shortly after it was announced that Biden would win the South Carolina primary, McAuliffe announced his endorsement on CNN.{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Kate |last2=Merica |first2=Dan |title=Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe endorses Joe Biden for president |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/29/politics/terry-mcauliffe-virginia-endorse-biden/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=February 29, 2020 |date=February 29, 2020}} In the following days, Biden received a slew of endorsements, including Virginia Congressman Robert C. Scott, U.S. senator from Illinois Tammy Duckworth (who held the Senate seat once occupied by Barack Obama), former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and former 2020 candidates Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, and Virginia Senator and former 2016 vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.{{cite tweet|user=BobbyScott4VA3|author=Robert C. Scott|number=1233924715640696832|title=Huge victory for @JoeBiden tonight. Proud to endorse him for president.|date=March 1, 2020|access-date=March 1, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/m7q54b/the-democratic-establishment-is-pulling-out-all-the-stops-for-biden|title=The Democratic Establishment Is Pulling Out All the Stops for Biden|last=Joseph|first=Cameron|date=2020-03-03|website=Vice|language=en|access-date=2020-03-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-02/joe-biden-endorsements-harry-reid-klobuchar|title=Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Beto O'Rourke endorse Joe Biden|last=Mehta|first=Seema|date=2020-03-03|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-05}}
Analysis
Participation in the 2020 South Carolina presidential primary was significantly higher than it was in the 2016 presidential primary. Official election results indicate that 539,263 votes were cast. This total represented a marked increase over 2016's 370,904 votes{{cite web |title=2016 Democratic Presidential Preference Primary |url=https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/59277/162732/en/summary.html |website=SCVotes |access-date=13 June 2020}} and even a slightly higher amount than 2008's 532,468 votes.{{cite web |url=http://www.scdp.org/primary_results |title=SC Dem. Party Election Results |access-date=2008-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403215438/http://www.scdp.org/primary_results/ |archive-date=2010-04-03 |url-status=dead }}
Biden's win was deemed a major victory, as he won all 46 counties in the state. The win was largely attributed to his support from 61% of African-American voters (African-American voters make up approximately 60% of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina).{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/south-carolina-exit-polls-more-black-moderate-voters-turn-out-n1146046|title=South Carolina exit polls: Black and moderate voters fuel Biden to victory|website=NBC|date=March 1, 2019}} Before the primary on February 26, House Majority Whip and longtime U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn endorsed Biden.{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/23/clyburn-to-endorse-biden-south-carolina-116986|title=Clyburn poised to endorse Biden in big boost before S.C. primary|website=POLITICO|date=February 23, 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-01}} Many cited Clyburn's endorsement as a reason for Biden's wide margin of victory, as Clyburn's endorsement was a deciding factor for many African American voters in South Carolina.{{Citation|last1=Clyburn|first1=James E.|chapter=James E. Clyburn and Bobby Doctor, Inspired Students|pages=121–128|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=978-1-61117-725-1|last2=Doctor|first2=Bobby|last3=Cunningham|first3=Cecelia|title=Champions of Civil and Human Rights in South Carolina|doi=10.2307/j.ctv6sj8x8.18|year=2016}} Thirty-six percent of all primary voters said that they made their decision after Clyburn's endorsement; of that total, 70% voted for Biden.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/01/810813892/4-takeaways-from-joe-bidens-big-win-in-south-carolina|title=4 Takeaways From Joe Biden's Big Win In South Carolina|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=2020-03-01}} According to FiveThirtyEight, the outcome significantly boosted Biden's chance of winning multiple Super Tuesday states (especially southern states like North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia).
Sanders came in second place in the primary. He received an estimated 14% of the African-American vote, down from 16% in 2016. Sanders did however win the Black youth vote.{{cite web |title=Exclusive Analysis: In South Carolina, young people support Sanders by smaller margin |url=https://now.tufts.edu/2020/03/01/exclusive-analysis-south-carolina-young-people-support-sanders-smaller-margin |website=now.tufts.edu |publisher=Tufts Now |access-date=9 March 2024}} Even in the Upstate region of the state, which was seen as friendly towards Sanders,{{cite web|url=https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/03/01/upstate-sc-didnt-like-joe-biden-rest-south-carolina-did/4920238002/|title=The Upstate didn't like Joe Biden as much as the rest of South Carolina did|author=Anna B. Mitchell, Scott Keepfe|date=March 1, 2020|website=The Greenville News|access-date=March 1, 2020}} Biden won every county, although his margin of victory was smaller in that region than it was in other parts of South Carolina.{{cite news |title=Results: The Most Detailed Map of the South Carolina Democratic Primary| work=The New York Times | date=February 29, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/29/us/elections/results-south-carolina-primary-precinct-map.html?action=click&module=ELEX_results&pgtype=Interactive®ion=Component |access-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301142501/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/29/us/elections/results-south-carolina-primary-precinct-map.html?action=click&module=ELEX_results&pgtype=Interactive®ion=Component |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |url-status=live | last1=Smart | first1=Charlie | last2=Lu | first2=Denise | last3=Bloch | first3=Matthew | last4=Watkins | first4=Miles }}
Following the South Carolina primary, pollsters and analysts claimed that Buttigieg, Warren, and Klobuchar were losing momentum at a critical time in the race. Exit polls showed that Buttigieg, who won Iowa and did well in New Hampshire, received only 2% of the black vote despite receiving endorsements from many prominent African Americans. Klobuchar and Warren received little support in South Carolina, possibly because of black voters' lack of familiarity with them.{{cite web |last1=Riccardi |first1=Nicholas |last2=Boak |first2=Josh |title=Takeaways from the South Carolina primary: Joementum |url=https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/trending/takeaways-from-the-south-carolina-primary-joementum/article_b3ba0b8f-6dda-559f-8b1b-d0f47edb9ee1.amp.html |website=TulsaWorld.com |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-date=March 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301132153/https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/trending/takeaways-from-the-south-carolina-primary-joementum/article_b3ba0b8f-6dda-559f-8b1b-d0f47edb9ee1.amp.html |url-status=dead }}
Following their poor performances, Pete Buttigieg,{{Cite news|last1=Epstein|first1=Reid J.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/us/politics/pete-buttigieg-drops-out.html|title=Pete Buttigieg Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Race|date=2020-03-01|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-03-02|last2=Gabriel|first2=Trip|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Amy Klobuchar,{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/481278-klobuchar-drops-out-of-2020-race|title=Klobuchar to drop out, endorse Biden|last=Nam|first=Rafael|date=2020-03-02|website=TheHill|language=en|access-date=2020-03-02}} and Tom Steyer ended their presidential campaigns before Super Tuesday. This meant that moderate voters coalesced instead of splitting their votes between multiple candidates, giving Joe Biden multiple comeback wins on Super Tuesday.
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/SC-D The Green Papers delegate allocation summary]
- [http://scdp.org/resources/delegate-selection-plan/ South Carolina Democratic Party draft delegate selection plan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412182109/http://scdp.org/resources/delegate-selection-plan/ |date=April 12, 2019 }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20190422195721/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries/democratic/south-carolina/ FiveThirtyEight South Carolina primary poll tracker]
- [https://www.postandcourier.com/presidential-candidate-tracker/article_754233ac-8160-11e9-b945-fb18f39c077c.html The Post and Courier South Carolina candidate tracker]
{{2020 Democratic primaries}}