Joe Biden has a commanding lead over his 2020 Democratic rivals in South Carolina, where a majority of black voters back him, a Monmouth University Poll shows.
Biden is supported by 39 percent of likely voters in the February primary, a crucial early presidential contest. Sen. Kamala Harris is in second place with 12 percent, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders at 10 percent, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 9 percent, according to Monmouth's first poll in the state in the current cycle.
Among black voters, a group that makes up more than half of likely primary voters in South Carolina, 51 percent favor Biden, a sharp contrast to just 24 percent of white voters. The strong showing among African-Americans is especially good news for Barack Obama's former vice president. Biden has been in damage-control mode since last month, when his comments about working alongside pro-segregation senators triggered scathing criticism from Harris, his top black competitor for the White House.