Biden wins big in South Carolina primary, in crucial boost for struggling campaign

Former Vice President Joe Biden decisively won the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, claiming his first victory of the 2020 race and giving a crucial boost to his struggling campaign ahead of Super Tuesday.

The victory tracked with polls indicating that Biden, buoyed by support among black voters, had a significant lead in the state for months over Sen. Bernie Sanders and others, despite the surging Vermont senator beginning to close the gap after early primary wins that rocketed him to front-runner status. Fox News projects Sanders will finish second, followed by wealthy progressive activist Tom Steyer -- who ended his campaign within hours of polls closing.

Biden had banked on his "firewall" of South Carolina to essentially save his flagging presidential bid. As the former primary front-runner took the stage at his victory party in Columbia, S.C., he hugged South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn and thanked him for his recent endorsement saying, "You brought me back."

“Just days ago the press and the pundits had declared this candidacy dead. Now thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we just won and we won big because of you,” Biden declared.

"This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party, this is the moment and it's arrived, maybe sooner than anyone guessed it would but it's here," Biden told supporters in Columbia.