2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary

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.

2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary

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64 delegates (54 pledged, 10 unpledged) to the Democratic National Convention The number of pledged delegates won is determined by the popular vote
Candidate Joe Biden Bernie Sanders Tom Steyer Home state Delaware Vermont California Delegate count 39 15 0 Popular vote 262,336 106,605 61,140 Percentage 48.65% 19.77% 11.34%   Candidate Pete Buttigieg Elizabeth Warren Home state Indiana Massachusetts Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 44,217 38,120 Percentage 8.20% 7.07%
County results Congressional district results Precinct Results Biden   <30%   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Sanders   20-30%   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   80-90%   90-100% Warren   20-30% Buttigieg   90–100% Steyer   20-30%   30–40%   40-50% Other   20–30% tie   30–40% tie   40–50% tie   50% tie   No votes

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.^[1][2][3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] A scanner counted the bar codes, not the names,^[7] and no audit was required to check if the machines worked correctly.^[8]

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.^[9][10] Polling places closed at 7:00 pm; however, anyone standing in line at 7:00 pm were still allowed to vote.^[11]

Pledged national convention delegates[12]
Type	Del.
CD1	6
CD2	4
CD3	3
CD4	4
CD5	5
CD6	8
CD7	5
PLEO	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^[13] was required to be submitted to the South Carolina State committee by December 4, 2019.

The following candidates were placed on the ballot:^[14]

• 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)

Additionally, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson were both accepted onto the ballot, but withdrew soon enough that they did not appear on the ballot.^[15] Write-in votes are not permitted in South Carolina party primaries.^[16]

Polling

Polling aggregation
Source of poll aggregation	Date updated	Dates polled	Joe Biden	Bernie Sanders	Tom Steyer	Pete Buttigieg	Elizabeth Warren	Amy Klobuchar	Tulsi Gabbard	Un- decided[a]
270 to Win[17]	Feb 28, 2020	Feb 23–27, 2020	35.8%	20.2%	13.4%	10.0%	8.2%	5.0%	2.6%	4.8%
RealClear Politics[18]	Feb 28, 2020	Feb 23–27, 2020	39.7%	24.3%	11.7%	11.3%	6.0%	5.7%	2.3%	–[b]
FiveThirtyEight[19]	Feb 28, 2020	until Feb 27, 2020[c]	38.4%	19.1%	12.4%	8.5%	7.0%	4.3%	2.6%	7.7%[d]
Average			38.0%	21.2%	12.5%	9.9%	7.1%	5.0%	2.5%	4.9%[e]
South Carolina primary results (February 29, 2020)			48.7%	19.8%	11.3%	8.2%	7.1%	3.1%	1.3%	–

   – Debate qualifying poll as designated by the Democratic National Committee

Polling in January and February 2020
Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[f]	Margin of error	Joe Biden	Michael Bloomberg	Pete Buttigieg	Tulsi Gabbard	Amy Klobuchar	Bernie Sanders	Tom Steyer	Elizabeth Warren	Andrew Yang	Other	Undecided
South Carolina primary (popular vote)	Feb 29, 2020	–	–	48.65%	–	8.2%	1.26%	3.13%	19.77%	11.34%	7.07%	0.2%	0.38%[g]	–
Atlas Intel[20]	Feb 25–28, 2020	477 (LV)	± 4.0%	35%	–	8%	2%	4%	24%	12%	7%	–	2%	6%
Emerson College[21]	Feb 26–27, 2020	550 (LV)	± 4.1%	41%	–	11%	2%	6%	25%	11%	5%	–	–	–
Trafalgar Group[22]	Feb 26–27, 2020	1,081 (LV)	± 2.99%	43.9%	–	9.6%	1.7%	5.9%	22.8%	10.5%	5.6%	–	–	–
Data for Progress[23]	Feb 23–27, 2020	1416 (LV)	± 2.6%	34%	–	13%	3%	5%	25%	13%	7%	–	–	–
Change Research[24] / Post and Courier	Feb 23–27, 2020	543 (LV)	± 5.1%	28%	–	11%	5%	4%	24%	16%	12%	–	–	1%
Starboard Communications[25]	Feb 26, 2020	1,102 (LV)	± 2.82%	40%	–	9%	2%	6%	11%	12%	9%	–	–	12%
	Feb 25, 2020	Tenth Democratic primary debate
Monmouth University[26]	Feb 23–25, 2020	454 (LV)	± 4.6%	36%	–	6%	1%	4%	16%	15%	8%	–	0%	15%
Clemson University[27]	Feb 17–25, 2020	650 (LV)	± 3.8%	35%	–	8%	2%	4%	13%	17%	8%	–	–	12%
East Carolina University[28]	Feb 23–24, 2020	1,142 (LV)	± 3.37%	31%	–	6%	2%	2%	23%	20%	8%	–	–	8%
Public Policy Polling[29]	Feb 23–24, 2020	866 (LV)	± 3.3%	36%	–	7%	6%	3%	21%	7%	8%	–	–	11%[h]
	Feb 22, 2020	Nevada caucuses
YouGov/CBS News[30]	Feb 20–22, 2020	1,238 (LV)	± 5.5%	28%	–	10%	1%	4%	23%	18%	12%	–	3%[i]	1%
Marist Poll/NBC News[31]	Feb 18–21, 2020	539 (LV)	± 6.0%	27%	–	9%	3%	5%	23%	15%	8%	–	2%[j]	9%
		997 (RV)	± 4.0%	25%	–	9%	3%	5%	24%	15%	8%	–	2%[k]	9%
Winthrop University[32]	Feb 9–19, 2020	443 (LV)	± 4.7%	24%	–	7%	1%	4%	19%	15%	6%	1%[l]	2%[m]	22%
University of Massachusetts Lowell[33]	Feb 12–18, 2020	400 (LV)	± 7.5%	23%	–	11%	4%	9%	21%	13%	11%	–	4%[n]	4%
Change Research/The Welcome Party[34]	Feb 12–14, 2020	1015 (LV)	–	23%	–	15%	1%	8%	23%	20%	9%	–	–	1%
East Carolina University[35]	Feb 12–13, 2020	703 (LV)	± 4.3%	28%	6%	8%	1%	7%	20%	14%	7%	–	0%	8%
	Feb 11–12, 2020	New Hampshire primary; Yang withdraws from the race.
	Feb 3, 2020	Iowa caucus
Zogby Analytics[36]	Jan 31 – Feb 3, 2020	277 (LV)	± 5.9%	28%	4%	7%	4%	2%	20%	15%	11%	1%	0%[o]	8%
East Carolina University[37]	Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2020	469 (LV)	± 5.3%	37%	1%	4%	2%	2%	14%	19%	8%	3%	0%[p]	10%
Change Research/ Post and Courier[38]	Jan 26–29, 2020	651 (LV)	± 4%	25%	–	7%	3%	2%	20%	18%	11%	3%	1%[q]	10%
	Jan 13, 2020	Booker withdraws from the race
GQR Research/Unite the Country[39][r]	Jan 9–13, 2020	600 (LV)	–	36%[s]	–[t]	5%[u]	–[v]	–[w]	15%[x]	12%[y]	10%[z]	–[aa]	–[ab]	–[ac]
Fox News[40]	Jan 5–8, 2020	808 (RV)	± 3.5%	36%	2%	4%	1%	1%	14%	15%	10%	2%	3%[ad]	11%

Polling before January 2020
Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[f]	Margin of error	Joe Biden	Cory Booker	Pete Buttigieg	Kamala Harris	Beto O'Rourke	Bernie Sanders	Tom Steyer	Elizabeth Warren	Other	Undecided
Change Research/ Post and Courier[41]	Dec 6–11, 2019	392 (LV)	± 4.9%	27%	5%	9%	–	–	20%	5%	19%	13%[ae]	–
	Dec 3, 2019	Harris withdraws from the race
YouGov/FairVote[42]	Nov 22 – Dec 2, 2019	400 (LV)	± 7.5%	39%	2%	10%	2%	–	13%	7%	10%	13%[af]	4%
Quinnipiac University[43]	Nov 13–17, 2019	768 (LV)	± 4.8%	33%	2%	6%	3%	–	11%	5%	13%	7%[ag]	18%
YouGov/CBS News[44]	Nov 6–13, 2019	933 (RV)	± 4.2%	45%	2%	8%	5%	–	15%	2%	17%	6%[ah]	–
University of North Florida[45]	Nov 5–13, 2019	426 (LV)	–	36%	2%	3%	4%	–	10%	8%	10%	6%[ai]	23%
	Nov 1, 2019	O'Rourke withdraws from the race
Monmouth University[46]	Oct 16–21, 2019	402 (LV)	± 4.9%	33%	2%	3%	6%	1%	12%	4%	16%	7%[aj]	15%
Change Research/ Post and Courier[47]	Oct 15–21, 2019	731 (LV)	± 3.6%	30%	3%	9%	11%	1%	13%	5%	19%	11%[ak]	–
Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[48]	Oct 8–10, 2019	607 (LV)	± 3.7%	32%	2%	4%	5%	1%	8%	–	16%	33%[al]	–[am]
YouGov/CBS News[49]	Oct 3–11, 2019	915 (RV)	±3.9%	43%	3%	4%	7%	1%	16%	2%	18%	6%[an]	–
Gravis Marketing[50]	Oct 3–7, 2019	516 (LV)	± 4.3%	34%	6%	0%	4%	2%	10%	7%	9%	10%[ao]	19%
Fox News[51]	Sep 29 – Oct 2, 2019	803 (LV)	± 3.5%	41%	3%	2%	4%	0%	10%	4%	12%	8%[ap]	16%
Winthrop University[32]	Sep 21–30, 2019	462 (RV)	± 4.9%	37%	3%	4%	7%	2%	8%	2%	17%	6%[aq]	12%
CNN/SSRS[52]	Sep 22–26, 2019	406 (LV)	± 5.9%	37%	2%	4%	3%	2%	11%	3%	16%	4%[ar]	10%
YouGov/CBS News[53]	Aug 28 – Sep 4, 2019	849 (RV)[as]	± 4.3%	43%	2%	4%	7%	1%	18%	1%	14%	9%[at]	–
Change Research[54]	Aug 9–12, 2019	521 (LV)	± 4.3%	36%	4%	5%	12%	1%	16%	1%	17%	7%[au]	–
Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[55]	Jul 23–25, 2019	554 (LV)	± 3.8%	31%	2%	4%	10%	0%	9%	–	12%	8%[av]	24%
Monmouth University[56]	Jul 18–22, 2019	405 (LV)	± 4.9%	39%	2%	5%	12%	1%	10%	2%	9%	3%[aw]	17%
YouGov/CBS News[57]	Jul 9–18, 2019	997 (RV)[ax]	± 3.8%	39%	3%	5%	12%	2%	17%	1%	12%	9%[ay]	–
Fox News[58]	Jul 7–10, 2019	701 (LV)	± 3.5%	35%	3%	2%	12%	0%	14%	0%	5%	3%[az]	20%
	Jul 9, 2019	Steyer announces his candidacy
Change Research[59]	Jun 29 – Jul 4, 2019	421 (LV)	–	27%	6%	6%	21%	1%	16%	0%	15%	8%[ba]	–
Change Research[60]	Jun 17–20, 2019	308 (LV)	–	39%	5%	11%	9%	5%	13%	0%	15%	5%[bb]	–
Change Research[61]	Jun 11–14, 2019	933 (LV)	± 3.2%	37%	5%	11%	9%	4%	9%	–	17%	8%[bc]	–
YouGov/CBS News[62]	May 31 – Jun 12, 2019	552 (LV)	–	45%	4%	6%	7%	4%	18%	–	8%	8%[bd]	–
Zogby Analytics[63]	May 23–29, 2019	183 (LV)	± 7.2%	36%	4%	7%	4%	2%	13%	–	12%	4%[be]	–
Tel Opinion Research[64]*	May 22–24, 2019	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	37%	2%	3%	7%	–	10%	–	8%	–	32%
Crantford Research[65]	May 14–16, 2019	381 (LV)	± 5.0%	42%	4%	8%	10%	–	7%	–	8%	–	–
Change Research[66]	May 6–9, 2019	595 (LV)	± 4.0%	46%	4%	8%	10%	2%	15%	–	8%	5%[bf]	–
Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[67]	Apr 30 – May 2, 2019	568 (LV)	± 4.5%	48%	4%	5%	4%	1%	12%	–	5%	1%[bg]	20%
	Apr 25, 2019	Biden announces his candidacy
	Apr 14, 2019	Buttigieg announces his candidacy
Change Research[68]	Mar 31 – Apr 4, 2019	744 (LV)	± 3.6%	32%	9%	7%	10%	9%	14%	–	6%	12%[bh]	–
				–	12%	12%	15%	16%	24%	–	11%	12%[bi]	–
	Mar 14, 2019	O'Rourke announces his candidacy
Emerson College[69]	Feb 28 – Mar 2, 2019	291 (LV)	± 5.7%	37%	6%	0%	9%	5%	21%	–	5%	16%[bj]	–
Change Research[70]	Feb 15–18, 2019	600 (LV)	± 4.0%	36%	10%	–	13%	8%	14%	–	9%	12%[bk]	–
				–	28%	1%	35%	–	–	–	20%	18%[bl]	–
	Feb 19, 2019	Sanders announces his candidacy
	Feb 9, 2019	Warren announces her candidacy
Firehouse Strategies/ Øptimus[71]	Jan 31 – Feb 2, 2019	557 (LV)	± 4.0%	36%	5%	–	12%	2%	8%	–	4%	2%[bm]	31%

Head-to-head polling
Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Joe Biden	Pete Buttigieg	Bernie Sanders	Elizabeth Warren	Other	Undecided
YouGov/FairVote[42][bn]	Nov 22 – Dec 2, 2019	400 (LV)	± 7.5%	73%	27%	–	–	–	–
				66%	–	34%	–	–	–
				61%	–	–	29%	[bo]	6%
				–	39%	61%	–	–	–
				–	36%	–	64%	–	–
				–	–	54%	46%	–	–
Tel Opinion Research[64]	May 22–24, 2019	600	± 4.0%	71%	10%	–	–	–	19%
				70%	–	15%	–	–	16%
				67%	–	–	15%	–	18%

Results

Popular vote share by county

  Biden—30–40%

  Biden—40–50%

  Biden—50–60%

  Biden—60–70%

  Biden—70–80%

Popular vote share by congressional district

  Biden—30–40%

  Biden—40–50%

  Biden—50–60%

  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%.^[72][73][74]

2020 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary^[72]

Candidate	Votes	%	Delegates[75]
Joe Biden	262,336	48.65	39
Bernie Sanders	106,605	19.77	15
Tom Steyer	61,140	11.34
Pete Buttigieg	44,217	8.20
Elizabeth Warren	38,120	7.07
Amy Klobuchar	16,900	3.13
Tulsi Gabbard	6,813	1.26
Andrew Yang (withdrawn)	1,069	0.20
Michael Bennet (withdrawn)	765	0.14
Cory Booker (withdrawn)	658	0.12
John Delaney (withdrawn)	352	0.07
Deval Patrick (withdrawn)	288	0.05
Total	539,263	100%	54

Results by county

Biden won every county.^[76][77]

County	Biden	%	Sanders	%	Steyer	%	Buttigieg	%	Warren	%	Klobuchar	%	Gabbard	%	Others	%	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

Aftermath

Joe Biden's overwhelming victory, his first-ever primary win in his three presidential runs,^[78][79] 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.^[80] 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.^[81] 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.^[80]

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.^[82] 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.^[83]

Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar both had lackluster performances in South Carolina.^[84] However, both candidates stated that they expected the outcome and still had a strong chance of doing well on Super Tuesday.^[85] Nonetheless, on March 2, two days after the primary and the day before Super Tuesday, Klobuchar dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden.^[86]

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.^[1]

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.^[87] Shortly after it was announced that Biden would win the South Carolina primary, McAuliffe announced his endorsement on CNN.^[88] 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.^[89][90][91]

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.^[72] This total represented a marked increase over 2016's 370,904 votes^[92] and even a slightly higher amount than 2008's 532,468 votes.^[93]

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).^[94] Before the primary on February 26, House Majority Whip and longtime U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn endorsed Biden.^[95] 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.^[96] Thirty-six percent of all primary voters said that they made their decision after Clyburn's endorsement; of that total, 70% voted for Biden.^[97] 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.^[98] Sanders did however win the Black youth vote.^[99] Even in the Upstate region of the state, which was seen as friendly towards Sanders,^[100] Biden won every county, although his margin of victory was smaller in that region than it was in other parts of South Carolina.^[98]

Following the South Carolina primary, pollsters and analysts claimed that Buttigieg, Warren, and Klobuchar were losing momentum at a critical time in the race.^[84] 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.^[85] Klobuchar and Warren received little support in South Carolina, possibly because of black voters' lack of familiarity with them.^[101]

Following their poor performances, Pete Buttigieg,^[102] Amy Klobuchar,^[103] and Tom Steyer^[1] 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

1. Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined; Bloomberg included as write-in votes are not permitted in SC primaries
2. Candidate percentages add up to more than 100%
3. FiveThirtyEight aggregates polls with a trendline regression of polls rather than a strict average of recent polls.
4. Bloomberg 10.3%; Write-in votes are not permitted in SC primaries; this appears to be based on trendline regression
5. Bloomberg only in 538, so no average can be made
6. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   V – unclear
7. Bennet with 0.14%; Booker with 0.12%; Delaney with 0.07%; Patrick with 0.05%
8. Reported as "Someone else/Undecided"
9. "Someone else" with 3%
10. "Other" with 2%
11. "Other" with 2%
12. Accumulated responses until he withdrew; name not included afterwards.
13. "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%
14. "Another candidate" with 4%
15. Bennet and Patrick with 0%
16. Bennet and Patrick with 0%
17. Delaney with 1%; Bennet and Patrick with 0%
18. The poll's sponsor, Unite the Country, is a pro-Biden super PAC.
19. data from 538.com
20. not released
21. data from 538.com
22. not released
23. not released
24. data from 538.com
25. data from 538.com
26. data from 538.com
27. not released
28. not released
29. not released
30. Booker with 2%; Bennet, Delaney, Patrick, and Williamson with 0%; "None of the above" with 1%
31. Gabbard with 4%; Bloomberg with 3%; Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Patrick and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Castro and Delaney with 0%
32. 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
33. Yang with 4%; Gabbard, Klobuchar and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Messam, Patrick and Sestak with 0%
34. Bullock, Delaney, Gabbard, and Klobuchar with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Messam, Sestak, Williamson, and Yang with 0%; someone else with 2%
35. Bloomberg, Gabbard, Klobuchar, Williamson and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Messam and Sestak with 0%; someone else with 1%
36. Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Castro, Delaney and Gabbard with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Ryan, Sestak and Williamson with 0%
37. Yang with 4%; Gabbard and Klobuchar with 3%; Bennet with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Ryan and Williamson with 0%
38. Yang with 2%
39. The poll did not announce this result separately; it is listed as part of 'Other'.
40. Bennet, Klobuchar, Ryan, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Messam, and Sestak with 0%; "someone else" with 0%
41. Bullock, Klobuchar and Yang with 2%; Castro, Delaney, Gabbard and Williamson with 1%; Bennet and Ryan with 0%
42. Bennet, Gabbard, Ryan, Williamson and Yang with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Klobuchar, and Messam with < 0.5%; Sestak with 0%; someone else with 3%
43. 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%
44. Bennet, Klobuchar, Gabbard, and Williamson with 1%; Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Ryan, and Yang with 0%
45. poll results among likely voters of this RV sample
46. de Blasio, Bullock, Delaney, Gabbard, Klobuchar, Ryan, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Messam, Sestak and Williamson with 0%; someone else with 2%
47. Gabbard with 2%; Castro, Delaney, Klobuchar, Ryan, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, de Blasio, Gillibrand, Inslee, Messam, and Williamson with 0%
48. Yang with 1%; "A different Democratic candidate" with 7%
49. 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%
50. poll results among likely voters of this RV sample
51. Delaney, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Klobuchar, Ryan, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Gravel, Messam, Moulton, and Sestak with 0%
52. Delaney, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, de Blasio, Bullock, Castro, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Klobuchar, Messam, Moulton, Ryan, and Sestak with 0%
53. Gabbard with 2%; Bennet, Bullock, Castro, Delaney, Hickenlooper, Williamson, and Yang with 1%; Gravel, Inslee, Moulton, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%
54. 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%
55. Yang with 3%; de Blasio, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Klobuchar, and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, Gravel, Hickenlooper, Messam, Moulton, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%
56. 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%
57. Gillibrand with 2%; Castro, Gabbard, Hickenlooper, and Inslee with 1%; Delaney, Klobuchar, and Yang with 0%
58. Yang with 2%; Abrams, Klobuchar, and Williamson with 1%; Bennet, Castro, Delaney, Gabbard, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Inslee, Ryan, and Swalwell with 0%
59. Klobuchar with 1%
60. Abrams with 7%; Castro, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Klobuchar, and Yang with 1%; Bennet, Delaney, Gabbard, Inslee, McAuliffe, Swalwell, and Williamson with 0%
61. Castro, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, and Klobuchar with 2%; Delaney, Inslee, Messam, and Yang with 1%; Gabbard and Williamson with 0%
62. Gillibrand with 3%; Bloomberg and Gabbard with 2%: Brown and Klobuchar with 1%; Castro, and Delaney with 0%; others with 8%
63. 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%
64. Klobuchar with 5%; Castro with 4%; Delaney with 3%; Gabbard and Williamson with 2%; Gillibrand and Yang with 1%
65. Klobuchar with 1%; Gillibrand with 0%
66. But for the Biden vs Warren matchup, 'undecided' and 'other' voters are not included in the listed percentages for this poll.
67. Would not vote with 4%