Despite three days of intense media scrutiny regarding allegations he had been accused of sexual harassment in the 1990s, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain is dominating in South Carolina.
A newly-released poll shows the Georgia businessman maintaining his lead in South Carolina, with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney trailing by ten points. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is the only other GOP candidate in double digits.
The survey was conducted on Tuesday evening following two days of media scrutiny regarding allegations of sexual harassment against Cain.
The poll shows Cain with 33% support, Romney at 23% and Gingrich at 15%. Texas Governor Rick Perry earns nine percent (9%) of the likely primary vote, Texas Congressman Ron Paul five percent (5%) and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann two percent (2%). Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman each picked up one percent (1%)
And of those who are currently decided on how they will vote, Cain leads Romney by 12 points.
In polling conducted before this week’s allegations, Cain also led Romney in Iowa, while Romney led in New Hampshire with Cain second.
On Tuesday, Cain continued to push back against allegations that he was at the center of a sexual harassment suit in the 1990s when he was head of the National Restaurant Association, a lobbying group.
In an interview on Tuesday, Mr. Cain told Headline News that he did not contradict himself when he said a day earlier that he was unaware of a settlement between a woman and the National Restaurant Association, over allegations against Mr. Cain. The Georgia Republican he was aware of an agreement, but not a settlement.
The South Carolina survey of 770 likely Republican primary voters was conducted on November 1, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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