A new South Carolina survey finds voters in The Palmetto State favoring former President Trump by double digits over former Gov. Nikki Haley.
According to the Emerson College/The Hill poll, Trump is up by 23 points over Haley, 58 percent to 35 percent, with 7 percent undecided.
- Trump’s support is highest among voters under 40, with 69%, while Haley’s support is highest among voters in their 50s, at 48%.
- Haley leads Trump among voters whose highest degree is college, 52% to 48%, but trails among postgraduates 43% to 57%.
- Haley also wins among the relatively few Republican primary voters who consider threats to democracy (63%), education (62%), and abortion access (53%) the top issues in the state, while Trump wins overwhelmingly with voters who say the economy (69%), immigration (74%), and crime (62%) are their top issues. [...]
- South Carolina voters find the economy to be the most important issue at 33%, while 13% find immigration to be the top issue, 13% education, 12% healthcare, 9% crime, 6% threats to democracy, and 4% abortion access. (Emerson College Polling)
“South Carolina holds an open primary; there is a divide among Republican and independent affiliated voters,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “Voters who affiliate as Republicans break for Trump over Haley, 71%-29%, while voters who affiliate as independent break for Nikki Haley 54% to 46%.”
The state’s GOP primary will take place Saturday, Feb. 24. While the state has an open primary, voters who already cast a ballot in the Democratic primary earlier this month cannot vote in the Republican primary.
“If the polls are to be believed, [Haley's] about to take a terrible electoral beating in her home state. It’s hard to imagine a more humiliating loss than that, and a more debilitating loss for future political prospects than that,” GOP strategist Justin Sayfie told The Hill.
Still, she seems unfazed by the handwriting on the wall in South Carolina, vowing to carry on to Super Tuesday on March 5.
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