President Trump DOMINATES Early Poll In Key Primary State, Doubles Republican Competition

A new poll released Tuesday by Winthrop University has found that in the key early primary state of South Carolina, 45th President Donald Trump is dominating the Republican competition, particularly after two South Carolinians in the race.

The poll found President Trump has secured 41 percent support amongst surveyed Republican voters which are over double what his prospective and current competition can muster.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) managed to get less than half of Trump’s support with 20 percent despite being governor of the state from 2011 to 2017.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who has yet to officially announce a run for the presidency, polled with 18 percent support while sitting South Carolina Senator Tim Scott had seven percent support. It is likely, however, that Scott’s support would increase in the coming weeks given his announcement of an exploratory committee for president Wednesday morning.

Other remaining polled candidates were in the single digits with former Vice President Mike Pence having five percent support, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has two percent backing, and Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) having one percent support.

Other candidates like former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and Gov. Glenn Youghkin (R-VA) were included in the poll but received less than one percent support.

“Trump is riding high and doubling support over the next candidate in the field,” Winthrop Poll Director Dr. Scott Huffmon said about the findings of the poll. “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.”

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The poll also found that President Trump enjoyed a 74 percent favorability rating amongst South Carolina Republicans while Nikki Haley had a 73 percent favorability rating and Tim Scott had a 69 percent approval rating for his job as senator.

The poll also found that President Joe Biden significantly underperforms in the state compared to his national profile with only 34 percent of South Carolinians approving of his job performance compared to a 43 percent approval rating nationally, according to FiveThirtyEight.

“There is little surprise that Biden is less popular in a state where he lost by nearly 12 points in the last presidential election,” Huffman said of the Biden findings.

Given that South Carolina is the third state on the path to the Republican nomination, with Iowa and New Hampshire being first in February 2024, the state’s feeling toward the Republican candidates is important in deciding the nominee.

For example, South Carolina played a pivotal role in saving President Biden’s candidacy in 2020 and it is a pivotal point in the race in which some Republican candidates in the 2024 cycle will likely drop out if they fail to perform. 

With these facts in mind, Trump’s dominating performance in the state will prove to be beneficial for his pursuit of the nomination as his competitors continue to split the Republican electorate in his favor.

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