Mary Lou Masters
Former President Donald Trump has a massive 27-point lead against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for her home state’s primary, a Friday poll found.
Trump is ahead of Haley 58% to 31%, with 11% of likely GOP primary voters remaining undecided, according to The American Promise/Tyson Group poll. The former president, who is endorsed by a majority of South Carolina’s top Republicans, led Haley in nearly every demographic polled.
Among self-identified Republicans, “very conservative” voters, independents and women, Trump beat the former governor with double-digit margins, according to the poll. The former president also won moderates by 7 points, and secured the backing from every age group included in the survey.
The only demographic that Haley led Trump in was among self-identified Democrats at 49% to 5%, the poll found.
“President Trump beat Nikki Haley in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and he will defeat her in her own backyard of South Carolina because Nikki Haley is an open border globalist who is backed by Democrats,” Karoline Leavitt, national spokeswoman for Trump’s campaign, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Because South Carolina doesn’t register its voters by party ID, any registered voter is able to participate in either the Republican or Democratic primary, according to the state’s election commission.
In New Hampshire, where undeclared voters were allowed to vote in the Republican primary, Haley received a majority of support from self-identified Democrats on Tuesday, as well as “moderate/liberal” individuals, according to CNN’s exit polling. The former governor only brought in 25% of self-identified Republicans and 27% of conservative voters.
The American Promise/Tyson Group also found that Trump received a 68% favorability score from the Palmetto State compared to Haley’s 56%.
Trump is currently leading Haley in the RealClearPolitics average for her home state by 30 points, and has the support of Gov. Henry McMaster, Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Lindsey Graham.
A majority of South Carolina’s Republican congressional delegation has also backed Trump over Haley, including Nancy Mace, Russell Fry, Jeff Duncan, Joe Wilson and William Timmons. Conversely, Republican Rep. Ralph Norman has supported Haley’s bid from the beginning.
The American Promise/Tyson Group survey polled 543 likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina between Jan. 24 to Jan. 26 with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4%.
Haley’s campaign did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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