Hillary Clinton Wins South Carolina Democratic Primary
Clinton received a big boost from South Carolina black voters.
— -- Hillary Clinton won the South Carolina Democratic primary Saturday, capturing 73 percent of the vote, with 100 percent of precincts reporting. Bernie Sanders captured 26 percent of the vote.
Clinton received a big boost from black voters who accounted for 62 percent of South Carolina Democratic primary voters in exit poll results, breaking the state’s record of 55 percent in 2008. Clinton won 84 percent of their votes, a crushing score.
"Tomorrow this campaign goes national," Clinton said in her victory speech in Columbia, South Carolina Saturday night looking ahead to Super Tuesday. "We are going to compete for every vote in every state. We are not taking anything, and we're not taking anyone, for granted."
In a written statement, Sanders congratulated Clinton on her win.
"Let me be clear on one thing tonight. This campaign is just beginning,” Sanders said. “We won a decisive victory in New Hampshire. She won a decisive victory in South Carolina. Now it’s on to Super Tuesday.”
Clinton beat Bernie Sanders in the Nevada Democratic caucuses and was able to eke out a win over Sanders in the Iowa caucuses. The Vermont senator’s only outright win so far has been in the New Hampshire primary.
Up until now, Clinton and Sanders earned a roughly even number of delegates in the early states (the former secretary of state has a wide lead among the party’s super delegates), but the Clinton campaign is likely to use its projected victory in the Palmetto State to argue that Clinton has a firm grip on the nomination.
According to exit poll results, more South Carolina voters say they’d be satisfied with Clinton as the eventual nominee than Sanders, eight in 10 versus six in 10. That’s a reversal from New Hampshire, where more said they’d be satisfied with Sanders (79 percent) than with Clinton (62 percent).
The race now turns to Super Tuesday, where 12 states and one territory hold their caucuses and primaries on March 1.
The ABC News Analysis Desk contributed reporting.
