Former President Donald Trump has a 26-point lead over former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley in her home state before the Feb. 24 primary there, a new poll shows.
The Monmouth University-Washington Post survey released Thursday found that 58% of potential Republican primary voters currently support Trump, and 32% back Haley — both gaining traction from September, when Trump had 46% and Haley had just 18%.
The polling suggests Haley, who also served under the Trump administration as ambassador to the United Nations, has considerable ground to make up to post a strong showing in the GOP primary in her home state, The Hill noted. Haley has vowed to stay in the race until Super Tuesday on March 5.
Poll findings:
- Trump has 62% support among men, 54% among women, 62% among voters 18 to 49, 58% among those ages 50 to 64, and 57% of those age 65 and older. He garnered 69% among white evangelicals and 68% of voters without a college degree.
- Trump splits the vote with Haley among voters who are not white evangelical at 46% to 42%. But among college graduates, Haley has 46% to Trump's 44%.
The survey also found Trump's legal woes are not an issue among potential GOP primary voters in South Carolina, with about 60% saying the party should keep him on the ballot if he wins the nomination even if he's convicted of a crime connected to the 2020 election.
In a showdown with President Joe Biden, 42% of voters believe Trump would definitely win, while 29% say he'd probably prevail in November. Just 21% say Haley would definitely beat Biden, and 42% that she'd probably win.
"Trump's electability is a concern for some primary voters. It's just that this group is nowhere near large enough to put Haley in striking distance of the front-runner," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
The poll was conducted among 815 potential Republican primary voters in South Carolina from Jan. 26-30, and has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.