(Columbia-AP) Feb. 4, 2004 - South Carolina native John Edwards won the Democratic presidential primary he had to win last night. The North Carolina senator won South Carolina's primary with 45 percent of the vote. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry finished second with 30 percent. See results here>>

Exit polls showed voters concerned about jobs, the economy and health care helped drive Edwards' victory. Edwards was the choice by nearly half of the people who say the economy is in bad shape. Kerry got 30 percent of those votes.

Edwards has stressed the problems with job losses as part of his campaign in the state. Kerry and retired Army General Wesley Clark were expected to capitalize on their military experience, but the exit polls show the Reverend Al Sharpton got more veteran votes than Clark.

Edwards got slightly more veteran votes than Kerry, even though Edwards has no military experience.

Exit polls conducted in five of the seven states holding votes show about eight in ten voters feel the national economy needs improvement. Voters in the five states also say they worry about health care, the war in Iraq and education.

The polls also show that voters waited until the last minute to decide who they're voting for. About half of voters in each of the states say they had made up their minds within the last week, and nearly one in five say they decided Tuesday.

South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, who cast his vote Tuesday morning at the Greenview Precinct on Farrow Road, says the most important aspect of Tuesday's primary is that is provides South Carolina voters with a voice, "We have never in this state had a presidential primary that meant anything. We had one back in 1992. It came late in the day, when it didn't mean a whole lot. This one means something. We are going to be a significant part of the decision-making process this time. What happens in South Carolina will reverberate all over this country."

Political scientists say Edwards has a ways to go before he can lay claim to the party's nomination. University of South Carolina political scientist Todd Shaw says it's time for Edwards to draw a distinction between himself and Kerry.

Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen says Kerry showed well in South Carolina, given the fact that he spent very little time in the Palmetto State. Thigpen says Kerry failed to nurture a network of supporters in South Carolina.

posted 7:55am by Chris Rees