SC Presidential Straw Poll: Trump still leads. DeSantis, Scott battle for second in GOP field

Republican grassroots workers in Upstate South Carolina, a reliably conservative and influential bloc of voters, continue to see former President Donald Trump as their first choice in the First in the South Republican Primary field.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott followed at second and third, respectively, according to a Wednesday, Aug. 9, Presidential Straw Poll conducted by the 4th District Republican Club at the Greer Depot.

Trump won 40% of the 163 votes in the straw poll. But the poll signaled a contest to watch between the candidates trailing Trump, with DeSantis at 28% and Scott at 25%.

Tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy ousted bigger GOP names to garner 4% votes to come fourth. Former S.C. Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was fifth with just over 1%.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, are struggling to pick up steam in the Palmetto State.

South Carolina Congressmen Russell Fry and William Timmons were on hand and answered questions from the crowd during the "Washington Night" event in Greer.

"As far as South Carolina goes — in August before the first debate, the presidential race is a five-person race," 4th District Republican Club Chair Nate Leupp said Wednesday.

SC straw poll highlights DeSantis vs. Scott

The straw poll, a snapshot of the state's primary sentiments two weeks before the first GOP debate in Milwaukee Aug. 23., is just one goal post. Stakes will change as candidates debate. Leupp expects at least one candidate, Ramaswamy, to gain some traction post-debate.

The poll also lends weight to the simmering competition between Scott and DeSantis, which first came to light when NBC published a leaked DeSantis campaign memo, where he saw the South Carolina junior senator as a threat on the campaign trail. The two have already jousted on at least one occasion, when DeSantis' administration in Florida approved controversial new African American history standards.

The curriculum states Black people may have benefited from slavery by "developing skills" that could be used for their personal advantage.

Last month, Scott told reporters in Iowa that there was "no silver lining" in the discussion of slavery. DeSantis replied, "Anytime you're siding with Kamala, and the corporate media against Florida, or against conservative elected officials, I think you've missed the mark."

Political watchers often consider Upstate SC to be a microcosm of the national GOP Republican Party. The region has a mix of conservative voters who identify as anything from an evangelical, far-right-America First voter to a fiscally conservative Republican with a streak of moderate views on social issues. Carrying this region has often been consequential for candidates vying for national office.

And though a small sample size, the straw poll gives insight to non-Trump campaigns jockeying for an edge in the crowded field. Some Republicans may be more interested in a second choice as the Trump campaign stares at multiple federal indictments.

However, the former president's pull remains so strong that several voters in the straw poll refused to pick a second choice. And of those who picked a No. 2 candidate, 29% of straw poll voters still favored Trump.

Meanwhile, South Carolina-bred contenders, Scott and Haley, faired better in the second choice category. Here, Scott rose to second place with 17% with Haley third with 14%.

DeSantis, who has tried to capture Trump's MAGA base in the Upstate, suffered when the alternative-to-Trump votes were split, slipping to fifth place behind Ramaswamy.

Devyani Chhetri covers SC Politics for the Greenville News. You can reach her at dchhetri@gannett.com or @ChhetriDevyani

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: SC Republicans: Trump still top choice in GOP presidential field.