COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Latest on the 2016 presidential race, with attention focused on the Democratic primary in South Carolina on Saturday (all times local):
1:20 p.m.
Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is endorsing Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential campaign.
Gonzales is now the dean of Belmont University's law school. He introduced Kasich at a rally in Nashville on Saturday as "not someone who's apologetic about the United States."
Gonzales was White House counsel to President George W. Bush before becoming the nation's first Hispanic attorney general in 2005. He resigned amid an uproar over allegations of torture of terrorism suspects and controversy over politically motivated firings of U.S. attorneys.
Gonzales acknowledged that Kasich needs to make up ground in the campaign, but says the governor leads the race in "faith and freedom."
Kasich praised Gonzales for his action in "a very difficult time in our nation's history."
"Sometimes you have to take a stand, and that's what Judge Gonzales did when he was attorney general of the United States," he said.
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12:35 p.m.
The bickering Republicans presidential candidates are trying to figure out how to cash in on the largest single-day haul of delegates in the race.
At stake on Super Tuesday are 595 delegates in 11 states.
Ted Cruz tells supporters in Atlanta to help him play the numbers game as he takes on front-runner Donald Trump and rival Marco Rubio.
The Texas senator wants backers "to vote for me 10 times," but he's isn't suggesting voter fraud — "we're not Democrats," he jokes.
He's appealing for each supporter to get nine others to vote for him Tuesday.
Cruz calls Super Tuesday "the most important day in this entire election cycle" and says turnout is key.
He says if Republicans nominate Trump, 'we'd end up electing" Democrat Hillary Clinton as president.
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12:15 p.m.
Aspiring first lady Jane Sanders says the Bernie Sanders campaign is looking to Super Tuesday when "I think we'll split the vote."
Expecting a loss in the South Carolina primary, the Vermont senator flew to Texas on Saturday morning and was heading to Minnesota later in the day. Jane Sanders, Bernie Sanders' wife and one of his top campaign advisers, says that South Carolina voting has already started and the campaign has to focus on March 1, when 12 states will cast ballots.
Jane Sanders says they were hoping for a "good showing" in South Carolina. She adds that it has been hard for people to get to know Bernie Sanders there, noting: "the media didn't cover him from May to December. There was nothing in the national media. So of course the South didn't know him."
Still, Jane Sanders says the campaign is feeling good.
"We always knew where we would do well and where we would not do so well," she said. "It's a 50-state election, and we're feeling very confident, actually."
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11:25 a.m.
South Carolina voter Robert Bennett Terry says Democrat Hillary Clinton can beat Republican Donald Trump in the presidential election — but Democrat Bernie Sanders can't.
So who got Terry's vote in the state's Democratic primary on Saturday?
Sanders.
The special education teacher from Mount Pleasant says he wanted to send "a strong message" that many people "are hurting."
He says Sanders is someone "who will bring change to all the people who need change in this great nation of ours."
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11:05 a.m.
"She'll say anything to get votes."
That's what a University of South Carolina professor says about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on primary day in the state.
Birgitta Johnson says candidate Bernie Sanders' stances on education appealed to her. She says Sanders "deals with structural issues rather than talking points" on education and other issues.
Johnson thinks Clinton is saying the same things as she did when she campaigned against Barack Obama in 2008 — and lost the primary.
Johnson — who voted at a recreational center in suburban Columbia — is concerned about her students and the cost of higher education. She says some of her students have had to quit because they're trying to go to school while working one or more jobs.
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10:45 a.m.
Hillary 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.
On Saturday, Clinton is banking on a first-place finish to give her even more momentum heading into the Super Tuesday contests next week.
Eight years ago, former 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.
Bill Clinton has been well-received in the state and Hillary Clinton has won the endorsement of James Clyburn, 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.
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8:20 a.m.
It may be election Saturday in South Carolina, but the Democratic candidates for president already have Tuesday on their mind.
That's when 11 states and American Samoa hold nominating contests in the 2016 race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Clinton is stopping in Alabama on Saturday before heading to Columbia, the South Carolina capital, for an election party. Polls are closing at 7 p.m.
Sanders isn't even scheduled to put in any South Carolina appearances on Saturday. He's supposed to be in Texas and Minnesota, two of the Super Tuesday states.
He knows his prospects with South Carolina's heavily black Democratic electorate aren't great.
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8:05 a.m.
Voting is underway in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, and Hillary Clinton is looking for a big victory — and to win big over rival Bernie Sanders.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close 12 hours later, at 7 p.m.
The candidates won't have much time for a breather after their party's first-in-the-South contest. Next up: Super Tuesday. That's when Democrats will vote in 11 states and American Samoa, with hundreds of delegates up for grabs.
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