ROCK HILL, S.C. (WSPA) — As the clock ticks down to the 2024 South Carolina GOP primary, the state’s Republican voters are unswayed by the legal challenges surrounding former President Donald Trump.
According to the latest Winthrop Poll released Wednesday morning, Trump continues to be the favored candidate among South Carolina’s GOP voters.
With less than five months to go until the primary, a little more than 50% of surveyed Republican voters in the state support the former president. Meanwhile, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 17% of Republicans favoring her nomination.
“We continue to see Trump’s dominance for the nomination in South Carolina,” said Dr. Scott Huffmon, the director of the poll. “While a distant second, support for Nikki Haley has grown. Haley’s rise coincides with the continued slide of Ron DeSantis with his drop in national polls being mirrored in South Carolina.
South Carolina Sen.Tim Scott finds himself in single digits in the polls, virtually tied with businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Huffmon said both Haley and Scott do a bit better when Republican-leaning independents are included in the analysis.
Officials said they randomly surveyed more than 1,500 registered South Carolina voters for the poll.
South Carolina voters have a track record of choosing the eventual nominee. With the exception of Newt Gingrich in 2012, the winner of the state’s GOP Primary has gone on to win the party’s nomination.
For more on the latest Winthrop Poll, click here.
