Black Votes Matter: In South Carolina, Hillary Clinton Outperforms Obama

IB Times
Feb. 28, 2016

South Carolina could not have looked more perfect for Hillary Clinton on Saturday night. When the former secretary of state scored an overwhelming victory over Bernie Sanders, African-American voters made up a larger portion of the state's Democratic primary electorate than they did in 2008, according to exit polls reported by CNN. And they loved Clinton.

In 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama was running against Clinton and beat her in the state, black voters made up 55 percent of the electorate. This time around, exit polls showed African-Americans accounted for more than six in 10 voters. Obama won 78 percent of the black vote to Clinton's 19 percent in the 2008 South Carolina primary, while exit polls show Clinton with 87 percent of the black vote to Sanders' 13 percent.

The numbers may seem surprising given how many African-Americans turned out nationally for Obama in 2008. However, as the New York Times pointed out this week, the nonwhite percentage of the South Carolina Democratic primary electorate that year was actually lower than it had been in previous years. That is likely because Obama also attracted white voters in 2008, who may have voted Republican this time around, voting trends suggest.

Clinton won nearly all demographics in South Carolina, but her win was helped by the significant portion of the electorate who were African-Americans. She has led among African -Americans -- and thus overall in the Palmetto State -- for months, and exit polls Saturday night also showed her winning the demographic decisively.

Among black voters over 65, Clinton beat Sanders 96 percent to 3 percent, according to NBC News exit polls. She has often done well among older voters, so this number was not surprising. Clinton typically does well among older women, and there have historically been far more black women voters in South Carolina Democratic primaries than men.

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