South Carolina, the state that launched Joe Biden to the Democratic nomination four years ago, is set Saturday to deliver the president his first official primary victory of the 2024 campaign.
Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson are also on the ballot. But Biden remains the overwhelming favorite to win as he begins his quest to rack up the delegates necessary to win his party’s nomination again. Fifty-five delegates are at stake in Saturday’s primary in South Carolina.
This year marks the first time South Carolina has appeared at the front of the official Democratic nominating calendar — a change made largely due to Biden’s urging.
DNC elevates South Carolina over Iowa and New Hampshire
For decades, Iowa and New Hampshire had cast the first votes in Democratic presidential primary battles. But the Democratic National Committee decided to move those states back in the calendar in the face of criticism that their largely White electorates didn’t reflect a Democratic base that is much more diverse nationally.
Iowa Democratic officials accepted the changes, opting to hold a mail-in caucus with ballots sent to voters starting January 12 and due to be postmarked back by March 5 — Super Tuesday, when more than a dozen other states are scheduled to hold their primaries.
New Hampshire officials, citing a state law requiring that its primary be the nation’s first, pushed back — holding a rogue Democratic contest alongside the Republican primary on January 23.
However, the Democratic National Committee punished the Granite State by stripping it of delegates to the party’s 2024 convention. Because the state did not comply with the calendar the DNC had set, Biden didn’t file to appear on the state’s primary ballot. But loyalists of the…
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