The first new poll to be released since the New Hampshire shows Donald Trump holding on to a lead he’s had in the Palmetto State for several months now:
The poll showed support for Trump in South Carolina at 36 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at 20 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) at 15 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) at 11 percent.
This indicates only minor shifts in the South Carolina race following the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. When Opinion Savvy polled the state last month, it found Trump leading at 32 percent, followed by Cruz at 18 percent, Bush at 13 percent and Rubio at 11 percent.
With the addition of this new poll, the first one conducted in South Carolina since before the Iowa Caucuses, Trump remains in first place in the RealClearPolitics average at 37.3%, followed by Ted Cruz in second at 20.3%, Marco Rubio in third at 14.0%, and Jeb Bush in fourth at 9.3%. Ben Carson stands in fifth place at 7.3% but his numbers have been consistently slipping in the state just as they have nationwide since November. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who garnered nine percent in the new poll, comes in last at 4.0% but he may start moving up given that this is the highest he’s ever polled in the state. We can expect more polling out of South Carolina in the coming week, and especially after Saturday’s Republican debate.