Joe Biden has yet to formally declare his presidential bid, but he’s already complicating Kamala Harris’ path to victory in a must-win state: South Carolina…

African-Americans and women make up strong majorities of Democratic primary voters here, and Harris aggressively courted local support last weekend in her fourth visit of the young campaign, which focused on rural areas. Biden, meanwhile, starts with broad across-the-board backing from an array of establishment Democrats to rank-and-file black voters. His overall early support skews toward older South Carolinians that form the most reliable voting bloc — and who are assembling to support Biden right away when he jumps into the race this week. State Rep. Jerry Govan, the chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, told POLITICO he expects Biden to receive “a warm welcome from a very diverse group of South Carolinians.”

“He has friends — a bunch of old friends,” added state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, the former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, who is helping Biden allies coordinate on the ground. Once he announces, “We’re going to be able to reveal a whole bunch of supporters.”