Black Democratic voters weigh in ahead of South Carolina primary The Democratic race to the White House reaches South Carolina, where presidential candidates seek the support of African American voters, an influential voting block for the Democratic Party. "Historically on the Democratic side, the individual that has won the primary in South Carolina usually goes on and captures the nomination, but I think things could be very different this time," says Kendall D. Deas, a political science professor at the College of Charleston.