Joe Biden first announced he would run for president in June 1987, only to bow out three months later amid a series of embarrassing scandals and gaffes. About 20 years later, he announced he would run for the 2008 nomination. On the night of the Iowa caucuses, Biden received no more than 1% of the vote and subsequently bowed out of the race. Nearly 33 years after first running, Joe Biden won his first Democratic presidential primary.
Moments after the polls closed at roughly 7 p.m. in South Carolina, the state was called for Joe Biden. The former Vice President left the primary night victorious with 38 delegates, having won every single county and 61% of the black vote.
“Just days ago, the press and the pundits declared this candidacy dead,” Biden told the crowd in Columbia during his victory speech. “Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won, and we’ve won big because of you. And we are very much alive.”
Within 48 hours of his primary victory, three Democratic candidates had dropped out: Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. By Monday evening, Klobuchar and Buttigieg were sharing a stage with Biden in Dallas, singing his praises. Mayor Pete said Biden would “restore the soul” of the nation, while Klobuchar said he would restore “decency and dignity” to the White House.
Biden’s post-South Carolina momentum was more powerful than Bernie’s movement or Bloomberg’s money. Without opening a single office in Vermont, Maine or Minnesota, and without holding a single public rally in Massachusetts, Biden either won or came in second in each of those states.
In Elizabeth Warren’s home state of Massachusetts, Biden was polling in fifth place at around 10% just days before the primary. Biden shockingly won key cities and towns such as Springfield, Attleboro, Brockton, Quincy and Fall River.
On the day Amy Klobuchar dropped out of the presidential contest, Biden was expected to win 23% of the vote in her home state of Minnesota. One day later, Biden carried the state with nearly 39% of the vote.
“We won Minnesota because of Amy Klobuchar,” Biden told his victory party crowd in Los Angeles.
By far the most important part of Biden’s coalition is his support from suburban America and older black voters in the south. He swept every primary south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and he placed second to Bernie Sanders in California.
Delegates are still to be allocated, but the current count shows Biden with 595 delegates and Sanders with 526 delegates. While the votes are still being counted, one thing is very clear: The Democratic Party will either nominate a 78-year-old democratic socialist or a 77-year-old former vice president.
Primary Colors: The best 4 days of Joe Biden’s political life
