COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Republican support for Donald Trump is still strong, according to a new Winthrop University Poll that shows the former president with a 21-point lead over his GOP challengers for president.
The poll, released Wednesday, found 41% South Carolina Republicans are backing Trump, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley nearly tied for second at 20% and 18%, respectively.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who announced his exploratory committee for president Wednesday, has 7% of the GOP support in the first-in-the-South early voting state. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who like DeSantis hasn’t formally announced a run, had 5% support.
“Trump is riding high and doubling support over the next candidate in the field,” Scott Huffmon, director of the Winthrop University Poll, said in a news release. “Haley shows more than quadruple her support compared to national polls, but that should be expected on her home turf. While DeSantis is viewed as the singular alternative to Trump in national polls, the real story here is that Haley and DeSantis are in a statistical dead heat in what could be a firewall for Haley when voting rolls around.”
Although national polls show Haley and Scott each in single digits, the nomination is determined state-by-state.
Haley, who has made numerous trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, launched her 2024 campaign in mid-February. Scott also has made visits to early voting states and will do so again this week in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Trump launched his campaign a week after the 2022 midterm elections.
“If (Haley) comes through and gets trounced in her own state, that would be ‘OK, I’m running for vice president,’” Huffmon told The State on March 31. “We’re still so far away from that. Lots of things could happen in the caucus (and) primaries.”
The Winthrop Poll, conducted March 25 through April 1, surveyed 485 South Carolina Republicans by phone. The poll had a 4.45% margin of error. About 80% of the poll was completed by March 30, when Trump’s formal indictment was announced.
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