Edwards, who was banking on the first-in-the-South primary, had a strong showing among Independents, Democrats and even Republicans, according to exit polls of voters conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International.

"We won South Carolina in a resounding fashion and won both the African-American and white vote in South Carolina, and we go from here to other states -- Michigan, Virginia and Tennessee," Edwards said. "It's very easy to lay out the map to get us to the nomination."

But in Beaufort County, Kerry won the most support with 38 percent of the vote. Edwards trailed with 27 percent.

In unofficial statewide returns with 88 percent of the precincts reporting, Edwards had 45 percent of the vote to Kerry's 30 percent. Al Sharpton garnered 10 percent of the vote, followed by Wesley Clark with 7 percent, Howard Dean with 5 percent and Joe Lieberman with 2 percent.

Following Kerry and Edwards in Beaufort County, based on unofficial results, was Sharpton with 16 percent, then Clark with 9 percent and Dean with 6 percent. Lieberman received 3 percent of Beaufort County's votes, and Kucinich received 0.5 percent.

Sharpton fared better in Jasper County, where he took second place with 26 percent -- his best showing in the state. Edwards carried Jasper County with 36 percent of the vote. Kerry was third with 24 percent.

Voters said the economy, jobs and health care were top issues in choosing a candidate. Edwards, whose campaign focused on South Carolina's shuttered textile mills and rising health care costs, resonated well with those critical voters.

"I think tonight I proved that I can win the White House and change the country in a way that strengthens the millions of middle-class families that Bush has forgotten and lift up the 35 million Americans who live in poverty," he said.

Edwards, a North Carolina senator who was born in the Upstate, sprinted across the state during the past week and rallied supporters through the final hours of the primary.

"It's a long way from that little house in Seneca, South Carolina, than here tonight," Edwards said to a cheering crowd at his victory party downtown.

"He not only did what he had to do, but he did it in a handsome fashion," said Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen.

Voter turnout was vigorous for a Democratic primary in the heavily Republican state. It also was better than expected after election officials dropped the requirement for voters to sign an oath binding them to the Democratic Party.

In Beaufort County, 14 percent of 67,806 registered voters took part in the primary. Fred Kuhn, chairman of the county's Democratic Party, said earlier this week that historically about 3 percent of registered voters in the county have voted in Democratic primary elections.

Tom Israel, a past president of the Democratic Club South of the Broad, said club members thought the oath was inappropriate for a party trying to reach out to independents and Republicans.

"There is a great relief among our workers that they rescinded that oath," Israel said.

Edwards said he owes his success to a positive, uplifting campaign.

"I would say I have to be very careful not to lose that," Edwards said. "That doesn't mean ... that I don't have to point out clear differences between myself and other candidates, differences between myself and Senator Kerry."

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, had not been to the state in four months until attending a presidential debate in Greenville last week.

But momentum from back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire and endorsement from two top South Carolina Democrats -- Sen. Fritz Hollings and Rep. Jim Clyburn -- helped bolster his campaign to compete with Edwards, Thigpen said.

Supporters were lined up, but "the network had not been nurtured," Thigpen said of Kerry's prolonged absence.

Still, in Beaufort County, support for Kerry remained strong.

"I liked his values, I liked his visions and I totally supported his overall approach to everything," said John Carson, a Sun City Hilton Head resident and an independent voter.

Sun City residents Nancy and Dan Kampel, also independent voters, said they voted for Kerry because he seems more mature than the other candidates.

"I think he's shown up to be fairly positive in this," Nancy Kampel said. "I like the fact that he speaks slowly. He doesn't rave and rant."

"And he's a man of experience," Dan Kampel said.

Ballots cast in Sun City -- a retirement community that is home to more than 4,000 registered voters -- accounted for 9 percent of all the county's voters with 893 people at the polls.

Kerry received 48 percent of the Sun City vote, while Edwards came in second with 27.5 percent.

Steve Brooks, a Bluffton voter and Democrat, said his decision came down to Kerry and Dean, but he chose the Massachusetts senator because he is less radical than the former Vermont governor, who initially was billed as the front runner.

"Kerry is a little more in line with what's going on," Brooks said. "Dean looks like he's going to throw stones, and that's not the candidate I want to back."

But Brooks, like many voters, said his first objective is to get Bush out of the White House.

"I'd rather vote for Mickey Mouse than Bush," he said, citing his opposition to the war in Iraq and questions about intelligence reports as reasons.

Blacks who make up about 30 percent of South Carolina's population comprised almost half of the voters in Tuesday's primary. Nine in 10 black voters supported Edwards, Kerry or the Rev. Al Sharpton, the only black candidate in the race.

"For me to come in double digits with no money, long way from home showed that volunteers and grassroots organizing does matter," said Sharpton, of New York.

"He's a black Democrat, and we need someone that's our race to stand up for us," said Lizea Carter, 37, of Batesburg, who voted for Sharpton.

Veronica Watkins, 44, of Columbia said she voted for Edwards because she could relate with him the best.

"He sees that things are uneven and not balanced and it needs to get balanced," said Watkins, a jail guard. "I heard him on television, and I liked what I saw."

Watkins also thinks Edwards can beat President Bush.

"There's a lot of people, even Republicans, that aren't satisfied with what went down," she said, referring to health care, taxes and education.

William Keisler, 75, of Leesville considers himself an independent and cast his ballot for Edwards.

"Well, Edwards is a native of South Carolina, and that's the main reason. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll vote Democrat next election," he said. "Well, a lot can happen between now and November."