Staff reports | Tycoon Donald Trump remained on top of the GOP presidential field in a Winthrop Poll released Thursday garnering 24 percent of likely GOP voters. But as timing would have it, the weeklong poll of 828 residents “came out of the field” or finished on Dec. 7 — the same day Trump made a controversial statement about keeping Muslims from entering the country. And that could impact perceptions since then (so it’s important to keep that in mind when looking at the numbers).
In descending order, here is a list of candidates state GOP likely voters say they would support if the state’s Feb. 20 GOP presidential primary “were held today” (meaning when they were asked Nov. 30 to Dec. 7):
Donald Trump, 24%- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, 16%
- Dr. Ben Carson, 14%
- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, 11%
- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, 9%
- Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, 2%
- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, 2%
- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 2%
- N.J. Gov. Chris Christie, 1%
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 1%
- U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, 1%.
“Trump leads across multiple categories of voters from a high of 35 percent among those who wish to create a database of Muslims in the U.S. to a low of 22 percent among evangelical Christians, who will make up nearly 60 percent of the S.C. GOP presidential primary electorate,” said Winthrop Poll Director Scott Huffmon. “Ted Cruz is tied with Ben Carson at 17 percent among evangelicals. This is a significant drop for Carson among evangelicals. He registered 33 percent support among this group in a Monmouth Poll a month ago. It is worth noting that one in five evangelicals remain undecided.
“Trump’s support is high among those who express anger — as opposed to frustration or contentment — with the government. He rakes in nearly a third of the angry voters, 9 percentage points higher than Ted Cruz, his nearest rival in this category.”
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