Former President Donald Trump holds a 25-point lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in South Carolina's race toward the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to a new National Research Inc. survey.
Scheduled to be held Feb. 24, following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, South Carolina is widely considered to be an important state toward securing the GOP's nomination.
Trump earned 43% support among likely Republican voters to grab a commanding lead in the Palmetto State. DeSantis was next with 18%, followed by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (12%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (10%) in the National Research Inc. survey commissioned by American Greatness.
A total of 13% said they were undecided or had other preferences, including former Vice President Mike Pence (1%), businessman Vivek Ramaswamy (1%), New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (1%), and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (1%).
Interestingly, on the question of favorability, Trump led DeSantis by just 6 percentage points, 72% to 66%.
The former president also had a larger unfavorable percentage (25%) than DeSantis (24%).
Trump was way ahead of DeSantis when likely GOP voters were asked:
- Which candidate is the best to improve our economy (60% to 11%)
- Which is seen as a stronger voice against far-left progressives (42% to 20%)
- Which is more compassionate to your needs (36% to 19%).
When asked whether Trump or DeSantis had a better chance of defeating President Joe Biden, likely voters chose Trump (34%) over DeSantis (29%).
Survey respondents said their top concerns were stopping liberal politicians (20%), southern border security (18%), taxes and the cost of living (11%), and protecting the integrity of elections (10%).
DeSantis officially declared his candidacy via Twitter on Wednesday night.
He appeared on Newsmax's "Eric Bolling The Balance" on Thursday and shared some appreciation for Trump.
"Most of our voters appreciate a lot of the things that President Trump did," DeSantis told host Eric Bolling. "I do. He's been attacking me a lot, but I still give him credit for the things that he did well, especially with the economy in the first three years."
The National Research Inc. poll, which surveyed 500 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters, was conducted May 24-25, 2023.
It has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.38% at the 95% confidence interval.
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