Marianne Williamson, the self-help author making her second long-term run for president, appeared to finish ahead of Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, narrowly edging past the candidate. the best candidate to date for President Biden was an important, if distant, rival.
With 97 percent of votes counted, Ms. Williamson has 2.1 percent and Mr. Phillips has 1.7 percent. While the race represents a resounding victory for Mr Biden – by more than 96 percent – it is still the most support Ms Williamson has received in an official Democratic primary. She ended her 2020 campaign weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Ms Williamson’s very distant second place is a huge blow to Mr Phillips. He spent about $4.6 million on his campaign in the last three months of 2023, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission, and he loaned it $4 million of his own funds.
Mr. Phillips had tried to set very low expectations for his performance in South Carolina. On Friday, he predicted on social media that Mr. Biden “should get 95 percent of the vote in South Carolina.” His prognosis wasn’t far off.
Mr. Phillips appeared to take his third place easily on Saturday. “Cracking four digits has never felt so good!” he wrote on social media, referring to the approximately 1,400 votes he had at the time. (He scored around 2,200 points.) He added: “Congratulations, Mr. President, on a good old-fashioned cheer. See you in Michigan.”
Both of Mr. Biden’s challengers made rare appearances at campaign events in South Carolina, although Ms. Williamson began visiting the state nearly a year ago and Mr. Phillips made his first trip after joining the race in November.
The Post and Courier reported that at an event last month in Columbia, South Carolina, Mr. Phillips’ campaign staffers worried the turnout wouldn’t be high enough to justify the number of chairs they set up. For the 10 people who eventually showed up, they set up a smaller group in a circle. “This feels like a séance,” Mr. Phillips said as he entered the room.
He put much more effort into campaigning in New Hampshire, where he was hoping for a surprise performance that would give him momentum in the race. He finished with less than 20 percent of the vote, losing significantly to Mr. Biden, who was not actually on the ballot.
Still, he beat Ms. Williamson by more than 15 points.
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2024-02-04 05:02:48
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