The South Carolina Democratic primaries occurred on Saturday, February 29, 2020. In the months leading up to voting day, Democratic candidates visited the state of South Carolina several times to hold rallies, canvassing, and phone bankings in hopes to gain the support of the residents.
The state of South Carolina prides itself in being “the first in the South” to vote in the primaries and is a make or break event for several candidates because it falls just days before Super Tuesday, when 14 other states vote in their primary elections.
Leading up to the primary elections, 21 Democratic candidates dropped out of the race, leaving Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Steyer, and Tulsi Gabbard left on the S.C. ballot. All remaining candidates, with the exception of Klobuchar who visited Myrtle Beach, held last-attempt events in Columbia in the days leading up to election day.
The polls opened at 7 a.m. on Feb. 29 and closed at 7 p.m. Several candidates scheduled watch parties in Columbia that evening, but many were cancelled upon the announcement from several news outlets that Joe Biden was the expected winner of the primary election. Just three days before the election, U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn announced that he would be endorsing Joe Biden for candidacy, which was a dominating factor in Biden’s victory in South Carolina. Clyburn is the highest ranking S.C. Democrat, and support from African American voters has been crucial in this primary race.
Following the announcement of Biden’s victory, Tom Steyer announced that he would be ending his candidacy at his watch party in South Carolina on election night. Steyer told his supporters, “Honestly, I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency,” before declaring that he will continue to fight for all of the issues addressed in his campaign. Pete Buttigieg announced on Sunday that he is dropping out of the race and plans to endorse Biden, followed by Any Klobuchar’s withdrawal days later.
Biden won the South Carolina primary with 48.4% of the votes in his favor and is seeking continued victories as Super Tuesday approaches.
Haley Salvador
I was born and raised in Atlanta, Ga. My dad would always take photos of my soccer games, so in turn, I always begged him to let me borrow his camera so I could shoot my sisters’ games. I have been a photographer for The Daily Gamecock campus newspaper for the past three years and cover all ranges of sporting events for them. I interned as a content creator/ videographer for a sports media outlet in Los Angeles this summer and currently contract for them throughout the week and travel for them on weekends.