Polls: Haley trails Trump, Biden leads Democrats ahead of South Carolina primaries

Polls ahead of South Carolina’s presidential primaries indicate another likely faceoff between former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.

An early January poll from Emerson College showed that more than 54% of surveyed South Carolinians planning to vote in the Republican primary favor Trump, while only 25% plan to vote for former Gov. Nikki Haley.

Only 30% of those surveyed said they plan to vote in the Democratic primary. Of those, more than 69% plan to vote for Biden. House Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) gathered about 5% of intended votes, while 3% plan to vote for author Marianne Williamson, who also ran in 2020's presidential election.

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More than 22% of South Carolinians planning to vote in the Democratic primary said they were undecided on which candidate would receive their vote. On the other hand, only about 6% of those planning to vote in the Republican primary were undecided.

The poll was conducted before Republican candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he was dropping out of the race on Jan. 21. DeSantis campaigned in Columbia in January and Greer in December.

According to national poll averages published by news and data site 538, 73% of Republican voters throughout the United States who are planning to vote in the primary will support Trump, while nearly 17% intend to vote for Haley.

Haley, who served as South Carolina’s governor from 2010-2016, campaigned in Mauldin, S.C. on Jan. 27. Despite her third place finish in Iowa’s caucus, Haley mentioned Trump’s ongoing legal battles and said she’d like to debate him.

In Emerson College’s late January national poll, nearly 53% of Republican primary voters said they believed Haley should drop out of the race.

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On the Democrat side, the polling shows nearly 72% of primary voters plan to support a second term for Biden, while 5% plan intend to vote for Williamson and 4% intend to vote for Phillips.

South Carolina Republicans have supported Trump in both the 2016 and 2020 election cycles. He received about 55% of the votes in South Carolina in both 2016 and 2020.

Biden, who received about 43% of the vote in 2020, visited the Palmetto State on Jan. 27 to attend the South Carolina Democratic Party’s First-in-the-Nation dinner.

Following a decision from the Democratic National Committee at the president’s request, South Carolinians will vote in the first Democratic primary for the 2024 presidential race. The request was made to allow states with more diversity among voters to go earlier in the primary schedule. Traditionally, primaries have started in Iowa and New Hampshire.

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Phillips also attended the event. While Biden received a warm reaction from the crowd, Phillips struggled to keep their attention.

Former 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who attended in support of Phillips, said that if the Democratic party wants to default Trump in the fall, they need to find a better candidate than Biden.

“The DNC is doing us a grave disservice by having a coronation, not a competition,” Yang said of Biden’s significant lead in the polls.

South Carolina’s Democratic primary will take place on Feb. 3, while the Republican primary will take place on Feb. 24. More information about how to vote can be found scvote.gov.

Sarah Swetlik covers climate change and environmental issues in South Carolina's Upstate for The Greenville News. Reach her at sswetlik@gannett.com or on X at @sarahgswetlik.

The Greenville News has a new environment and climate Q&A column. Have a question for Sustainability with Sarah? Ask here or email sswetlik@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Polls: Haley trails Trump, Biden leads Democrats ahead of SC primaries