Barack Obama won South Carolina's bitterly contested Democratic presidential primary with the aid of heavy black support on Saturday, dealing a setback to rival Hillary Clinton after a week of political brawling.

Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president,
handily beat Clinton in the latest showdown in an escalating fight for the right to represent the Democratic Party in November's presidential election.
John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, finished third.

Returns from 86 percent of the state's precincts showed Obama winning 54
percent in the three-way race, Clinton gaining 27 percent and Edwards at 19 percent.

The win for Obama after two consecutive losses to Clinton, in New
Hampshire and Nevada, gives him new momentum heading into Feb. 5 "Super
Tuesday" Democratic contests in 22 states.

Clinton called Obama to congratulate him and headed from South Carolina to Tennessee, a Feb. 5 state, as the results began to roll in.

"We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make
their voices heard in Florida and the 22 states as well as American Samoa who will vote on February 5th," Clinton said in a statement.

The high stakes in South Carolina fueled a week of angry accusations and
increasingly personal jabs between the two candidates, capped by a volley of attacks on Obama from Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, and questions about the role of race.

Exit polls showed Obama won four of every five black voters, who made up more than half of the primary electorate. He also won one-quarter of white votes, higher than many had predicted. Edwards and Clinton split the remaining white vote.

Edwards had chastised his two rivals for their squabbling and said the tone of the South Carolina contest was disappointing.

"There's been a lot of effort by the other two candidates to tear each other down which is why I'm focused on the voters and doing positive things," he said.

Voting was heavy at some polling stations and record turnout of more than 300,000 was expected in the first Democratic primary in the South.

Clinton had left South Carolina for two days during the week and headed to states with contests on Feb. 5, leaving her husband to carry the campaign load here.

All three candidates have portrayed themselves as the strongest leaders of a shaky economy. Clinton has hammered Obama for a lack of experience and highlighted her readiness to lead "from day one" in the White House.