Biden spoke to supporters after waiting for more results to come in:
The win was so decisive that the projection came just a few minutes after the polls closed at 7 pm ET:
Joe Biden got the victory his struggling campaign needed in South Carolina on Saturday night, buoyed by strong support from black voters, according to an NBC News projection.Biden was just about the only candidate left in the state for the results. Sen. Bernie Sanders headed north up to Virginia Beach for a rally, continuing his focus on Super Tuesday states.But the former vice president still has plenty of ground to make up to reclaim his position atop the 2020 Democratic field with Super Tuesday just days away, when he'll face national frontrunner Bernie Sanders, who finished second in South Carolina, according to an NBC News projection.
The win for Biden, along with at least 20 of the 54 delegates at stake, gives his campaign a much-needed shot in the arm ahead of Tuesday's primaries next week, when 14 states vote. Sanders was set to collect at least three delegates in South Carolina.
It's Biden's first-ever primary win, after two early presidential bids fizzled out early, and this year started with losses in the first three states.
Rounding out the top three in South Carolina was billionaire businessman Tom Steyer who managed around 11% of the vote.
The entire race will get flipped upside down on Tuesday, March 3, when a dozen states vote and around one-third of the total delegates will be awarded. Biden is looking for more victories in other southern states. Sanders is looking for big wins in the northeast and delegate-rich California, a state where he has been leading.
What Biden's South Carolina victory means for his prospects on Super Tuesday still remains to be seen, but winning with around 50% of the vote in the first southern primary will certainly give him a new case to make.
The wild card on March 3 will be former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In the first four states, Bloomberg's name was absent from the ballot. That won't be the case on Tuesday which means the "not-Bernie" vote will end up being split by another candidate. Can Biden consolidate his victory and push forward with a renewed argument? It could happen in other states, and could prolong this primary if no candidate comes away winning a majority of the states next week.
Check out the RealClearPolitics collection of Super Tuesday polls to give you an idea of how things could play out on Tuesday.
