Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has a wide lead in South Carolina over other primary candidates, including former Palmetto Governor Nikki Haley.
Ann Emerson College Poll A report released Friday showed Trump leading Haley by 29 points in her home state, with approval rating at 54% to Haley's 25%.
No other candidates have reached double digits in the polls, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 7%, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 5% and biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy with 3%. %was. A further 6% said they had not decided yet.
Ms. Haley did best among self-identified independent voters in the Palmetto State, outperforming Mr. Trump in this demographic 37% to 33%.
But among Republicans, Trump has an overwhelming lead, with 62% to Haley's 21%.
“The current state of the South Carolina race shows Trump as the front-runner and Haley as his primary opponent,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of polling at Emerson College, said in a statement. “Mr. DeSantis has seen a decline in approval ratings and, like the New Hampshire poll, has fallen into the fold with single-digit approval ratings.”
“A key question arising from this poll is whether Ms. Haley can muster enough support in her home state before the primary in case the race heats up after New Hampshire.”
Haley's campaign previously told the Post that she expected to win South Carolina. She is campaigning heavily in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, hoping to gain enough momentum to gain support in her home states, which vote on February 24th.
Haley, 51, ranks third in Iowa, behind DeSantis and Trump, and second in New Hampshire, behind the former president, according to RealClearPolitics averages.
In Iowa, Mr. Trump, 77, leads Mr. DeSantis, 45, by an average of more than 32 points. Although Haley has narrowed her lead in New Hampshire, she still trails Trump by more than 21 points, according to RCP's tally.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, Haley's top campaign agent in the Granite State, said Wednesday that Haley will win the Jan. 23 primary and take a “strong second place” in Iowa. Guaranteed.
President Biden leads the Democratic field in South Carolina with 69% support, ahead of rival Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota), who has 5% support, and 3% support. She is far ahead of self-help author Marianne Williamson. .
“Biden has a strong base of support among South Carolina Democrats, and no option poses a challenge to the president,” Kimball said. “With 22% still on the sidelines, Biden has an opportunity to start the 2024 primary with a strong showing toward winning the Democratic nomination.”
According to the poll, 40% of South Carolina voters are most concerned about the economy, followed by immigration (14%), education and “threats to democracy” (9% each), and health care (8%). ) and crime (6%). , housing affordability (5%), and access to abortion (5%).
The poll was conducted Jan. 2-3 among 1,046 South Carolina voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. On the Republican side, 584 voters were surveyed and the margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.
Emerson also surveyed 320 Democratic voters, and the margin of error for that dataset was plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.
