South Carolina poll: Trump up 17 points ahead of primary

[mystery-ak]

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/269494-south-carolina-poll-trump-up-17-points-ahead-of-primary

February 16, 2016, 07:58 am
South Carolina poll: Trump up 17 points ahead of primary

By Mark Hensch

Donald Trump holds a big lead over other Republicans in a new poll of South Caroiina voters.

Trump has a 17-point edge over his closest competitors in the Public Policy Polling survey released late Monday to The State newspaper.

He has 35 percent support, while Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are tied for second with 18 percent apiece.

Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) ranks fourth at 10 percent, followed by former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson deadlocking at 7 percent each.

The poll was taken on Feb. 14-15, after Saturday night's GOP debate. Trump atacked former President George W. Bush's record on terrorism and the war on Iraq in that debate, arguing he failed to keep the country safe. It provoked a fiery confrontation with the former president's brother.

Many wondered if the attacks by Trump, which prompted boos by the South Carolina crowd, would cut into his popularity in the state.

This new poll, at least, suggests that it did not.

PPP's survey of 897 likely GOP primary voters has a 3.3 percent margin of error.

Trump’s support in the Palmetto State is up since the firm’s last sampling in November, when he lead the field with 25 percent.

Carson took 21 percent in that survey, followed by Cruz at 15 percent, Rubio at 13 percent and Bush at 8 percent.

Trump also remains the leader for the Republican presidential nomination nationwide. He commands an 8-percent edge over the competition, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

[HAPPY2BME]

After debate, Trump still tops SC GOP presidential race - Trump at 35%; Cruz and Rubio follow with 18% each

February 15, 2016

Donald Trump still is leading the S.C. Republican presidential race after the weekend’s explosive GOP debate in Greenville.

But the race for second place in Saturday’s primary appears to be narrowing.

Behind Trump, who has 35 percent support in a new poll, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are tied for second place — at 18 percent each, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released exclusively Monday to The State.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in fourth at 10 percent support, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, tied with 7 percent support each.

Public Policy interviewed 897 likely GOP primary voters Sunday and Monday – the first look at how after Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate affected the race. The poll has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

The GOP poll suggests Trump’s debate performance – in which he criticized former President George W. Bush for the 2001 terror attacks – may not be hurting the frontrunner in a state that has deep ties to the Bush family.

The poll also suggests Rubio could be closing the gap on Cruz, who has finished second to Trump in seven out of the eight S.C. polls taken in 2016.

Clinton still leading

In the Democratic race, frontrunner Hillary Clinton still holds a double-digit lead — 55-34 — over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to a separate poll of 525 likely Democratic primary voters.

Sanders and Clinton are tied among white S.C. voters, the poll said. But Clinton has a strong lead among African-American voters, expected to make up more than half of Democratic primary voters. Among those voters, 63 percent said they back Clinton compared to 23 percent for Sanders.

Fourteen percent of black Democratic voters said they were undecided.

Sanders has managed to close the gap on Clinton, according to the poll. In November, Clinton led Sanders 86-11 among African-American voters.

http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article60547281.html