African-American voters are making up a larger portion of the South Carolina Democratic primary electorate than they did in 2008, according to exit polls conducted Saturday.
In 2008, 55% of voters were black, but now African Americans made up more than six in 10 voters.
Democratic voters also said the economy was the most important issue facing the country, with more than four in 10 selecting it, compared with 35% of Democrats in Nevada and 33% in New Hampshire who said it was the most important.
About half of South Carolinians voting today said they are very worried about the direction of the nation’s economy, while just 29% of voters in New Hampshire agreed.
Moderate to conservative Democrats also made up a larger portion of the electorate in South Carolina than in previous states, according to exit polls, with nearly half of voters identifying that way. Only 32% of Democrats in Iowa and 30% in Nevada identified as moderate to conservative.
Democratic voters also said they were looking for candidates with empathy, honesty and experience, but were less concerned about whether the candidate could win the White House.
Roughly half of the voters polled Saturday said race relations had deteriorated in the U.S. in the last few years while about one in five voters said it improved. South Carolina has been home to some of the most jarring race-related events over the last year, including a church shooting last year in Charleston last year that killed nine people.
Related to that, more than eight in 10 voters said that reducing gun violence was more important than protecting gun rights, even though about four in 10 voters said they were gun owners.
