Poll: Trump Boasts Massive Lead in South Carolina GOP Primary

Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump waves with South Carol
Chris Carlson, File/AP
Hannah Knudsen

Former President Donald Trump is boasting a massive lead in South Carolina’s Republican primary race, the latest survey from Emerson College found.

The South Carolina GOP primary is less than two months away, and Trump continues to lead the pack of presidential hopefuls by double digits in the Palmetto State.

A majority of South Carolina GOP primary voters, 54 percent, chose Trump as their candidate of choice. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley falls 29 points behind in her home state with 25 percent support.

No other candidate earned double digit support. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis descended to third place with seven percent support. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in fourth place with five percent support, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy with three percent support and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson with zero percent support. Another six percent remain undecided, which alone is not enough to boost Haley to overtake Trump.

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Further, the survey found Haley edging out her competitors among independent voters — 37 percent to 33 percent — but those who identify strictly as Republican flock elsewhere, 62 percent to 21 percent.

The survey also found:

* Among voters who are “very likely” to vote, Trump leads Haley 57% to 24%, but among “somewhat likely” voters, the vote tightens to 34% for Trump and 31% for Haley.
* Trump leads Haley among all age groups.
* Haley performs stronger among voters with postgraduate degrees: these voters split between Haley at 40% and Trump at 39%.

The Republican primary portion of the survey was taken January 2-3, 2024, among 584 voters. It has a +/- four percent margin of error:

The survey comes as the Iowa caucus barrels down, set to take place January 15. Both Haley and DeSantis, particularly, are viewing it as a chance to emerge as a frontrunner in the race but are essentially battling it out for second place in the Hawkeye State, as Trump continues to dominate by double digits in poll after poll. Friday’s RealClearPolling average showed Trump up by an average of 32.7 points in Iowa.

Both Haley and DeSantis will participate in CNN’s upcoming debate on Wednesday, January 10, ahead of Iowa’s election day. Trump also qualified for the debate but is skipping it and will hold an Iowa town hall event with Fox News at the same time instead:

Haley, however, has accused Trump of hiding, which is patently false, given his consistent efforts to offer counter-programming to the GOP debates.

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