Former Vice President Joe Biden has an 18-point lead over his Democratic presidential primary opponents in South Carolina, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Biden has 35 percent support in the Clemson University poll released just days ahead of Saturday's South Carolina primary.

Businessman Tom Steyer, who has focused much of his campaign on South Carolina, pulled in a distant second at 17 percent support in the poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the leading candidate in the race after three nominating contests, trails Steyer in the poll by 4 points at 13 percent support.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg each register at 8 percent support, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) lagging behind at 4 percent.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is last with 2 percent support in South Carolina.

Biden said Tuesday on the debate stage that he expects to win in South Carolina, the first state on the primary calendar to have a significant African American population, following disappointing finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. He came in a distant second behind Sanders in last weekend's Nevada caucuses.

The survey is based on 650 respondents, through a mixed methodology of telephone response, online and online panel voters. It was conducted between Feb. 17 and 25. There is a margin of error of 3.8 percentage points.

The results of the survey were not weighted for age, sex or ethnicity, pollsters said. Three percent of respondents were under 25, 14 percent were under 40, 20 percent were under 54, 21 percent were under 64, and 43 percent were 65 or older.

-- Updated at 5:01 p.m.