2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary
The 2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place in South Carolina, United States, on February 29, 2020, and was the fourth nominating contest in the Democratic Party primaries for the 2020 presidential election. This open primary awarded 63 delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, of which 54 are pledged delegates allocated on the basis of the results of the primary.
Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were the only candidates to earn statewide delegates based on the results of the primary. Biden won 48.7% of the popular vote and notably placed first in every county in the state. Sanders came in second place and won 19.8% of the popular vote. Other candidates on the ballot did not receive a high enough vote share to receive any delegates.
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 the primary, candidates Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar suspended their campaigns. With Buttigieg and Klobuchar dropping out, Biden was left as the only moderate left in the race and moderate voters coalesced.
Primary elections for statewide offices took place on June 9, 2020.
Procedure
Primary elections were held on Saturday, February 29, 2020. In the open primary, candidates must 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 allocated proportionally on the basis of the results of the primary. Of these 54 pledged delegates, 35 are allocated on the basis of the results within each congressional district, between four and eight are allocated to each of the state's seven congressional districts and another seven are allocated to party leaders and elected officials, in addition to 12 at-large pledged delegates. These delegate totals do not account for pledged delegate bonuses or penalties from timing or clustering.The precinct reorganization meetings will subsequently be held on Saturday, March 14, 2020, to choose delegates for the county conventions, followed by county conventions between Wednesday, March 25, and Tuesday, April 7, to elect delegates to the state Democratic convention. On March 30, 2020, the state Democratic convention will meet in Columbia to vote on the unpledged delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention. The 54 pledged delegates South Carolina sends to the national convention will be joined by nine unpledged PLEO delegates.
Voting is done by each voter selecting choices on a screen, so the machine prints a ballot with chosen names and a bar code. Voters can check the printed names before putting the ballot in the ballot box, though few do. A scanner counts the bar codes, not the names, and no audit is required to check if the machines worked correctly.
Voters could absentee vote in-person until February 28, 2020, at 5:00 pm local time. Voters can also submit absentee votes by mail. Election officials recommended applying to absentee vote by-mail a week in advance so that voters have time to receive their absentee ballot and mail it in by election day. Polling places closed at 7:00 pm; however, anyone standing in line at 7:00 pm were still allowed to vote.
Candidates
There is a $20,000 filing fee to get on the ballot, the largest in the nation. Along with the filing fee, an application was required to be submitted to the South Carolina State committee by December 4, 2019.The following candidates were placed on the ballot:
- Bernie Sanders
- Joe Biden
- Pete Buttigieg
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Amy Klobuchar
- Elizabeth Warren
- Tom Steyer
- Andrew Yang
- John Delaney
- Deval Patrick
- Michael Bennet
- Cory Booker
Polling
Results
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%. Delegate totals are estimates from the Associated Press.| Candidate | Votes | % | Delegates |
| 262,336 | 48.65 | 39 | |
| 106,605 | 19.77 | 15 | |
| 61,140 | 11.34 | 0 | |
| 44,217 | 8.20 | 0 | |
| 38,120 | 7.07 | 0 | |
| 16,900 | 3.13 | 0 | |
| 6,813 | 1.26 | 0 | |
| 1,069 | 0.20 | 0 | |
| 765 | 0.14 | 0 | |
| 658 | 0.12 | 0 | |
| 352 | 0.07 | 0 | |
| 288 | 0.05 | 0 | |
| Total | 539,263 | 100% | 54 |
Results by county
Biden won every county.| County | Biden | % | Buttigieg | % | Gabbard | % | Klobuchar | % | Sanders | % | Steyer | % | Warren | % | Others | % | Rejected ballots | Total votes cast | Turnout as % of total registered electors |
| Abbeville | 1,129 | 57.69 | 80 | 4.09 | 26 | 1.33 | 42 | 2.15 | 286 | 14.61 | 312 | 15.94 | 60 | 3.07 | 22 | 1.13 | 3 | 1,960 | 12.54 |
| Aiken | 6,769 | 44.81 | 1,246 | 8.25 | 194 | 1.28 | 607 | 4.02 | 3,169 | 20.98 | 1,988 | 13.16 | 1,030 | 6.82 | 102 | 0.67 | 33 | 15,138 | 13.00 |
| Allendale | 552 | 58.29 | 9 | 0.95 | 2 | 0.21 | 2 | 0.21 | 119 | 12.57 | 241 | 25.45 | 17 | 1.80 | 5 | 0.53 | 0 | 947 | 16.37 |
| Anderson | 5,564 | 41.83 | 988 | 7.43 | 230 | 1.73 | 524 | 3.94 | 3,124 | 23.49 | 1,808 | 13.59 | 984 | 7.40 | 80 | 0.61 | 16 | 13,318 | 11.05 |
| Bamberg | 1,099 | 58.77 | 26 | 1.39 | 4 | 0.21 | 19 | 1.02 | 277 | 14.81 | 387 | 20.70 | 43 | 2.30 | 15 | 0.81 | 6 | 1,876 | 19.82 |
| Barnwell | 1,068 | 59.63 | 32 | 1.79 | 13 | 0.73 | 26 | 1.45 | 274 | 15.30 | 308 | 17.20 | 49 | 2.74 | 21 | 1.17 | 2 | 1,793 | 13.08 |
| Beaufort | 11,275 | 45.83 | 3,067 | 12.47 | 290 | 1.18 | 1,371 | 5.57 | 3,749 | 15.24 | 3,009 | 12.23 | 1,699 | 6.91 | 143 | 0.58 | 43 | 24,646 | 18.81 |
| Berkeley | 10,573 | 49.08 | 1,793 | 8.32 | 383 | 1.78 | 527 | 2.45 | 4,598 | 21.34 | 2,030 | 9.42 | 1,495 | 6.94 | 143 | 0.66 | 31 | 21,573 | 16.23 |
| Calhoun | 1,118 | 59.88 | 47 | 2.52 | 25 | 1.34 | 34 | 1.82 | 288 | 15.43 | 302 | 16.18 | 42 | 2.25 | 11 | 0.58 | 5 | 1,872 | 17.69 |
| Charleston | 28,292 | 44.30 | 8,078 | 12.65 | 1,013 | 1.59 | 2,302 | 3.60 | 12,245 | 19.17 | 4,734 | 7.41 | 6,932 | 10.85 | 268 | 0.42 | 84 | 63,948 | 21.78 |
| Cherokee | 1,812 | 57.14 | 104 | 3.28 | 38 | 1.20 | 66 | 2.08 | 3 | 21.22 | 347 | 10.94 | 106 | 3.34 | 25 | 0.79 | 2 | 3,173 | 9.60 |
| Chester | 2,033 | 63.77 | 102 | 3.20 | 23 | 0.72 | 58 | 1.82 | 633 | 19.86 | 223 | 6.99 | 88 | 2.76 | 28 | 0.89 | 6 | 3,194 | 15,56 |
| Chesterfield | 1,825 | 64.06 | 90 | 3.16 | 26 | 0.91 | 44 | 1.54 | 537 | 18.85 | 225 | 7.90 | 76 | 2.67 | 26 | 0.92 | 3 | 2,852 | 10.93 |
| Clarendon | 2,694 | 68.50 | 97 | 2.47 | 36 | 0.92 | 62 | 1.58 | 487 | 12.38 | 434 | 11.03 | 83 | 2.11 | 40 | 1.03 | 15 | 3,948 | 17.14 |
| Colleton | 2,318 | 57.76 | 153 | 3.81 | 64 | 1.59 | 73 | 1.82 | 679 | 16.92 | 526 | 13.11 | 174 | 4.34 | 26 | 0.63 | 5 | 4,018 | 16.00 |
| Darlington | 4,231 | 61.11 | 287 | 4.15 | 55 | 0.79 | 86 | 1.24 | 1,105 | 15.96 | 911 | 13.16 | 208 | 3.00 | 41 | 0.59 | 16 | 6,940 | 16.03 |
| Dillon | 1,485 | 64.09 | 39 | 1.68 | 8 | 0.35 | 38 | 1.64 | 362 | 15.62 | 319 | 13.77 | 39 | 1.68 | 27 | 1.17 | 9 | 2,326 | 12.47 |
| Dorchester | 7,657 | 47.55 | 1,457 | 9.05 | 316 | 1.96 | 403 | 2.50 | 3,494 | 21.70 | 1,509 | 9.37 | 1,189 | 7.38 | 77 | 0.48 | 21 | 16,123 | 15.24 |
| Edgefield | 1,327 | 55.87 | 77 | 3.24 | 20 | 0.84 | 44 | 1.85 | 419 | 17.64 | 370 | 15.58 | 89 | 3.75 | 29 | 1.21 | 7 | 2,382 | 13.84 |
| Fairfield | 2,352 | 61.09 | 84 | 2.18 | 50 | 1.30 | 47 | 1.22 | 428 | 11.12 | 773 | 20.08 | 88 | 2.29 | 28 | 0.73 | 10 | 3,860 | 24.63 |
| Florence | 8,676 | 58.82 | 569 | 3.86 | 83 | 0.56 | 221 | 1.50 | 2,635 | 17.86 | 1,877 | 12.73 | 607 | 4.12 | 82 | 0.57 | 29 | 14,779 | 16.76 |
| Georgetown | 4,776 | 52.46 | 697 | 7.80 | 114 | 1.28 | 327 | 3.66 | 1,574 | 17.62 | 1,018 | 11.39 | 376 | 4.21 | 52 | 0.59 | 16 | 8,950 | 20.19 |
| Greenville | 20,661 | 38.17 | 5,688 | 10.51 | 830 | 1.53 | 2,352 | 4.35 | 13,376 | 24.71 | 5,774 | 10.67 | 5,207 | 9.62 | 235 | 0.43 | 57 | 54,180 | 16.45 |
| Greenwood | 2,693 | 47.88 | 278 | 4.94 | 57 | 1.01 | 165 | 2.93 | 1,060 | 18.85 | 1,091 | 19.40 | 241 | 4.29 | 39 | 0.70 | 7 | 5,631 | 13.75 |
| Hampton | 1,116 | 53.09 | 33 | 1.57 | 12 | 0.57 | 18 | 0.86 | 319 | 15.18 | 541 | 25.74 | 40 | 1.90 | 23 | 1.10 | 10 | 2,112 | 16.46 |
| Horry | 13,281 | 43.82 | 2,877 | 9.49 | 387 | 1.28 | 1,269 | 4.19 | 6,757 | 22.29 | 3,841 | 12.67 | 1,724 | 5.69 | 175 | 0.58 | 59 | 30,370 | 13.02 |
| Jasper | 1,794 | 52.75 | 189 | 5.56 | 42 | 1.23 | 110 | 3.23 | 543 | 15.97 | 573 | 16.85 | 122 | 3.59 | 28 | 0.83 | 5 | 3,406 | 16.72 |
| Kershaw | 3,577 | 55.29 | 361 | 5.58 | 67 | 1.04 | 144 | 2.23 | 1,083 | 16.74 | 896 | 13.85 | 308 | 4.76 | 34 | 0.54 | 13 | 6,483 | 15.37 |
| Lancaster | 4,340 | 51.48 | 858 | 10.18 | 112 | 1.33 | 422 | 5.01 | 1,695 | 20.11 | 365 | 4.33 | 567 | 6.73 | 71 | 0.84 | 15 | 8,445 | 13.43 |
| Laurens | 2,413 | 49.76 | 204 | 4.21 | 73 | 1.51 | 120 | 2.47 | 1,001 | 20.64 | 748 | 15.43 | 244 | 5.03 | 46 | 0.95 | 10 | 4,859 | 12.19 |
| Lee | 1,876 | 68.87 | 49 | 1.80 | 18 | 0.66 | 11 | 0.40 | 332 | 12.19 | 364 | 13.36 | 53 | 1.95 | 21 | 0.76 | 7 | 2,731 | 23.50 |
| Lexington | 9,720 | 39.87 | 2,573 | 10.55 | 502 | 2.06 | 795 | 3.26 | 5,758 | 23.62 | 2,827 | 11.60 | 2,094 | 8.59 | 111 | 0.46 | 15 | 24,395 | 13.00 |
| Marion | 2,735 | 66.87 | 60 | 1.47 | 13 | 0.32 | 38 | 0.93 | 625 | 15.28 | 508 | 12.42 | 78 | 1.91 | 33 | 0.81 | 13 | 4,103 | 19.52 |
| Marlboro | 1,485 | 61.44 | 29 | 1.20 | 13 | 0.54 | 34 | 1.41 | 309 | 12.78 | 487 | 20.15 | 35 | 1.45 | 25 | 1.04 | 9 | 2,426 | 13.59 |
| McCormick | 730 | 48.18 | 68 | 4.49 | 16 | 1.06 | 54 | 3.56 | 208 | 13.73 | 381 | 25.15 | 42 | 2.77 | 16 | 1.06 | 4 | 1,519 | 20.62 |
| Newberry | 1,787 | 55.41 | 205 | 6.36 | 57 | 1.77 | 83 | 2.57 | 482 | 14.95 | 460 | 14.26 | 124 | 3.84 | 27 | 0.84 | 4 | 3,229 | 13.66 |
| Oconee | 2,181 | 37.60 | 560 | 9.66 | 81 | 1.40 | 403 | 6.95 | 1,392 | 24.00 | 742 | 12.79 | 405 | 6.98 | 36 | 0.61 | 5 | 5,805 | 11.07 |
| Orangeburg | 9,089 | 69.86 | 238 | 1.83 | 71 | 0.55 | 72 | 0.55 | 1,388 | 10.67 | 1,690 | 12.99 | 370 | 2.84 | 92 | 0.70 | 20 | 13,030 | 22.91 |
| Pickens | 2,513 | 32.62 | 761 | 9.88 | 163 | 2.12 | 375 | 4.87 | 2,141 | 27.79 | 901 | 11.70 | 823 | 10.68 | 27 | 0.35 | 4 | 7,708 | 10.45 |
| Richland | 35,869 | 53.15 | 4,491 | 6.65 | 528 | 0.78 | 1,285 | 1.90 | 11,347 | 16.81 | 8,269 | 12.25 | 5,392 | 7.99 | 309 | 0.45 | 65 | 67,555 | 25.71 |
| Saluda | 782 | 54.01 | 54 | 3.73 | 15 | 1.04 | 27 | 1.86 | 262 | 18.09 | 243 | 16.78 | 51 | 3.52 | 14 | 0.97 | 3 | 1,451 | 12.52 |
| Spartanburg | 9,977 | 42.31 | 1,849 | 7.84 | 278 | 1.18 | 749 | 3.18 | 5,870 | 24.89 | 2,911 | 12.34 | 1,816 | 7.70 | 131 | 0.56 | 31 | 23,613 | 12.45 |
| Sumter | 8,375 | 65.41 | 406 | 3.17 | 74 | 0.58 | 122 | 0.95 | 1,673 | 13.07 | 1,667 | 13.02 | 386 | 3.01 | 101 | 0.80 | 23 | 12,827 | 18.34 |
| Union | 1,295 | 57.22 | 58 | 2.56 | 19 | 0.84 | 34 | 1.50 | 430 | 19.00 | 322 | 14.23 | 73 | 3.23 | 32 | 1.42 | 2 | 2,265 | 13.72 |
| Williamsburg | 3,682 | 70.08 | 47 | 0.89 | 19 | 0.36 | 45 | 0.86 | 708 | 13.48 | 605 | 11.52 | 94 | 1.79 | 54 | 1.04 | 16 | 5,270 | 24.34 |
| York | 11,556 | 43.60 | 3,110 | 11.73 | 338 | 1.28 | 1,241 | 4.68 | 6,551 | 24.72 | 1,242 | 4.69 | 2,307 | 8.70 | 159 | 0.60 | 35 | 26,539 | 14.44 |
Aftermath
's overwhelming victory, which was his first-ever primary win in his three presidential runs, 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. The Biden campaign claimed that the outcome proved that 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. Biden's success in the primary helped him overtake the lead in the popular vote from then 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 that he would have a negative effect on the race if he stayed in, which many took as Buttigieg not wanting to split the centrist vote, a move which would have significantly helped Bernie Sanders. However, while Buttigieg called Biden before making his announcement, he did not immediately endorse him or any other candidate. Nonetheless, one day later on March 2, the day before Super Tuesday, Buttigieg endorsed Biden while speaking at Biden's rally in Dallas, Texas.
Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar both had lackluster performances in South Carolina. However, both candidates stated that they expected the outcome and still had a strong chance of doing well on Super Tuesday. Nonetheless, on March 2, two days after the primary and the day before Super Tuesday, Klobuchar dropped out of the race and subsequently endorsed Biden.
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 their 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. Shortly after it was announced that Biden would win the South Carolina primary, McAuliffe announced his endorsement on CNN. In the following days, Biden received a slew of endorsements, including Virginia Congressman Robert C. Scott, U.S. senator from Illinois Tammy Duckworth, former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and former 2020 candidates Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O'Rourke.
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 and even a slightly higher amount than 2008's 532,468 votes.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. Before the primary on February 26, Jim Clyburn endorsed Biden. Many cited Clyburn's endorsement as a reason for Biden's wide margin of victory, as Clyburn's endorsement is a deciding factor for many African American voters in South Carolina. Thirty-six percent of all primary voters said that they made their decision after Clyburn’s endorsement; of that total, 70% voted for Biden. According to FiveThirtyEight, the outcome significantly boosted Biden's chance of winning multiple Super Tuesday states.
Sanders came in second place in the primary. He received an estimated 14% of the African-American vote, down from 16% in 2016. Even in the Upstate region of the state, which was seen as friendly towards Sanders, Biden won every county, although his margin of victory was smaller in that region than it was in other parts of South Carolina.
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.
Following their poor performances, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, 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.