President Joe Biden I won with a huge majority. South Carolina’s Democratic Primary Saturday, where voters sent a clear message that they were ready for Biden. November elections.

As of 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, he had received 96.2% of the votes cast, accounting for 97% of the total.

The other two Democrats on the ballot, House Rep. Dan Phillips, D-Minn., and self-help author and 2020 Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson each won about 2% of the ballot.

The win adds new momentum to Biden’s re-election campaign, and offers a powerful rebuttal. Narrative That Democratic voters are ambivalent — or worse — about their party’s standard bearer.

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the pundits wrong, reinvigorated our campaign, and put us on the path to winning the presidency,” he said in a statement after Saturday’s results. ”

“Now in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again and I have no doubt that you have put us on the path to winning the presidency again — and Donald Trump losing again.”

he will be awarded all 55 of the state’s Democratic delegates, NBC News projects, as neither Williamson nor Phillips broke the 15 percent threshold to be awarded any delegates.

Biden’s huge margin of victory left no question about who Democratic voters want on the ballot in November.

But it came in the middle Reports The lower-than-expected turnout is likely a sign of weak enthusiasm for Biden among Democrats.

In 2020, approx 16% Votes were cast in the Democratic primary among the state’s 3.3 million registered voters. On Saturday, that number dropped to about 4% of voters.

Especially, The polls have shown Biden’s support among black voters lagged behind, a core Democratic Party bloc that was key to his 2020 victory.

Black voters in South Carolina are overwhelmingly Democratic, so a win there on Saturday could help ease some of those concerns.

Biden’s campaign has also been under pressure to show momentum, a real challenge this year due to a late start to the Democrats’ official primary season.

In Iowa, the Democratic Party decided not to cast any ballots in its caucus, denying Biden a chance to win there.

In New Hampshire, Biden’s name was not on the official ballot, but he won the write-in contest with 64% of the vote.

Republicans will vote in their party’s primary on February 24, where former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will seek an upset in her home state against former President Donald Trump.

The GOP primary is expected to draw much higher turnout and more attention than Saturday’s vote.

Unlike the Republican fight, the Democratic primary has, thus far, been notable for its civility.

“Congratulations, Mr. President, on a good old-fashioned hooping,” Phillips wrote on the X.