Democrats voting in South Carolina primary

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The spotlight for Democrats’ race for the White House is on South Carolina, one week after Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders in Nevada. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Clinton is looking to reverse the results of 2008, when Barack Obama captured 55 percent of the vote over her 27 percent. That year, about 23 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the Democrats’ presidential primary. More than half of them were minorities. African-Americans make up about 28 percent of South Carolina’s nearly 3 million registered voters, while young people ages 18 to 24 account for 8 percent, according to the state Election Commission.

Here are snapshots of voters who went to the polls Saturday:

University of South Carolina graduate student Owen Jensen said he voted for Sanders, but he thinks Clinton would do a good job too. It was the first time the 29-year-old Columbia resident had voted in a primary contest.

Jensen, who is white, said he thinks either Sanders or Clinton would do well in November.

“I think we have a strong foothold right now given the wackiness that’s going on on the other side,” he said. “They seem to be awfully divisive among each other.”

Wanda Scott-Anderson of Columbia said the choice was difficult, but she went with Clinton for her experience. Equal pay for women and health care – specifically for the elderly – were the issues most important to the 58-year-old retiree.

Scott-Anderson, who is black, chose Clinton as the candidate who’s “been in the limelight” and “through the battle.”

“I’ll take my chances with her. I know she’s been there, and it makes a big difference,” said Scott-Anderson, who worked at the state Department of Juvenile Justice. “Talking – and knowing how to talk to these foreign leaders – you have to have that. We have a lot of problems. We definitely don’t need a war.”

Elementary school teacher Alicia Newman said she was torn but ultimately voted for Clinton for her electability.

“I don’t think Bernie has a shot in a national election, and this election is too important,” said the 31-year-old Greenville resident, who is white.

“The next president is probably going to end up appointing the next judge on the Supreme Court. If Hillary is elected, she’ll appoint a moderate or liberal judge to replace (Antonin) Scalia.”

She worries a conservative court could threaten legal abortion.

“With all the debates, I think Bernie has helped prepare Hillary for November. That’s good. But now it’s time to get around one candidate and wait for the Republicans,” she said.

Substitute teacher Regina Duggins of Charleston said she voted for Clinton partly because she could become the first female president.

She said she also liked Clinton’s positions on working to end gun violence and deal with the high incarceration rates of young black males.

“I like Bernie Sanders, and he also has been doing things to help the black community as well. But I just think we need someone who is more familiar with the government and how the whole system works,” Duggins, who is black, said after voting at a school in downtown Charleston.

Special education teacher Robert Bennett Terry of Mount Pleasant voted for Bernie Sanders, even though he says Clinton can beat Donald Trump and doesn’t think Sanders can.

“However, Bernie Sanders is certainly someone who will bring change to all the people who need change in this great nation of ours,” said Terry, who is white, voting at a middle school in suburban Charleston.

“I want to send a message – a strong message – that in the Lowcountry here, many people are hurting. I see that each week. I work with kids in a Title 1 school and their families. They need a break. They need higher wages. They need to have a better life.”

Markos Young, of suburban Columbia, said he recently went to hear Hillary Clinton at an event in Columbia and “felt more connected to her” on issues such as racial disparities, health care and tuition.

“I was at one point considering Bernie, but she really swayed me on the issues personally affecting me,” said Young, who is African-American.

Young, a 40-year-old University of Georgia graduate who works in human resources, said he’s considering going to medical school and would have to take out student loans. He said Sanders’ stance on free tuition sounds good, but he doesn’t believe it. “I would love tuition to be free, but how? Somebody has to pay for it. Where’s that coming from?”

Lauren Marsh, of Columbia, said Sanders was the ideal choice for her, even though she’s previously voted for Republicans.

“I’m a student. I have student loans. I have student debt,” said the 27-year-old UPS worker, who considers herself an independent.

“With Hillary, she’s been in the game so long and we’ve seen so much of how she plays the game,” Marsh said.

Marsh, who is white, said the Republican race has hurt the country.

“I watched the Republican debate the other night and it was a slinging contest near the end there . it looked like the Jerry Springer show,” she said. She doesn’t think Donald Trump “should be given a second more of television or time.”

Birgitta Johnson, a professor of African-American studies at the University of South Carolina, said Sanders’ stances on education appealed to her.

“He deals with structural issues rather than talking points,” she said after voting in suburban Columbia.

She said Clinton’s saying the same things as when she campaigned against Obama in 2008. “She’ll say anything to get votes,” she said.

Johnson, 39, said she’s still paying off student loans herself. But she’s really concerned about her students, some of whom have had to quit because they’re trying to go to school while working one – or even two – full-time jobs. Some of her students are working to support their parents and siblings, she said.

“People are not looking at the realities,” said Johnson.

She said she believes Sanders will work to overhaul K-12 public education.

Christian Anderson said he voted for Bernie Sanders because he wants to “live in a Scandinavian, socialist utopia.”

Joking aside, the 45-year-old University of South Carolina professor said he supports Sanders’ stance that college is a public good that should be funded by the government.

“There is no reason a student should leave school saddled with so much debt it follows them to the grave,” Anderson, who is white, said after voting at the Martin Luther King Community Center in Columbia.

Raymond Glover, 58, of Columbia, said he voted for Clinton because of her knowledge and experience as the wife of a former president, a U.S. senator and serving under Obama as secretary of state.

And, he said, “she won’t take us to war,” as he believes the Republicans would.

“I like Bernie, too, but Hillary will be better. She’ll continue to move us forward and not move us backward as opposed to Republicans who want to strike things back,” from Obama’s health care overhaul to early voting, said Glover, who is African-American.