Hillary Clinton is aiming Saturday to build on her Nevada victory with a big win in South Carolina, as rival Sen. Beie Sanders already looks beyond the state to focus on the Super Tuesday contests.
The Democratic front-ruer was the clear favorite heading into Palmetto State primary. She has held a roughly 30-point polling lead over Sanders there, where polls are set to close at 7 p.m. ET.
And she appears to have strong support among unions and African-American voters that she had hoped would help her when the campaigns move into the Deep South and other parts of the country.
Clinton made a stop in Alabama Saturday before retuing to Columbia, South Carolina's capital, for what her campaign hoped would be an evening victory party.
Sanders, who campaigned in South Carolina and has tried to make inroads with black voters, nevertheless has tued his attention in recent days to other states that vote on Tuesday. As Democrats in South Carolina were heading to the polls, Sanders was speaking to about 10,000 people at a Formula One racetrack near Austin, Texas.
Sanders is not scheduled to make any South Carolina appearances on Saturday. Expecting a loss in the primary, the Vermont senator was heading to Miesota later in the day.
His wife, Jane Sanders, said Saturday that her husband’s campaign is looking to Super Tuesday when "I think we'll split the vote."
She also said: "It's a 50-state election, and we're feeling very confident, actually."
Clinton hopes a second chance in South Carolina will mean a first. In 2008, she lost by a wide margin to Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary.
Her husband, President Bill Clinton, was viewed by some as questioning the legitimacy of the black presidential contender -- Obama.
Today, South Carolina voters appear ready to forgive. The former president has been well received in the state and Hillary Clinton has won the endorsement of James Clybu, the influential black congressman who stayed neutral in the 2008 primary.
According to exit polls, black voters made up 55 percent of the electorate in the 2008 primary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.