Trump has huge lead over Haley in South Carolina, poll shows

South Carolina voters are far more likely to support former President Donald Trump than the state’s former Gov. Nikki Haley for the Republican Party’s nomination, according to a poll released by Winthrop University on Wednesday.

Ahead of the Feb. 24 GOP primary, the poll shows 65 percent of likely voters in the state would vote for Trump, which is a 36 percent lead over Haley. Out of Republican voters, an overwhelming 72 percent would vote for Trump.

Independents are more evenly split between the candidates, though. Of those likely to vote in the primary, 42 percent backed Haley compared to 43 percent for Trump.

“Haley shows strength among Independent likely voters but will need to convince many more Independents who are sitting on the fence regarding participation to show up on February 24 in order to cut into Trump’s lead,” Winthrop Poll director Scott Huffmon said in an announcement of the results.

Out of all registered voters in South Carolina, Trump would win over President Joe Biden by at least 15 points in the general election. However, Haley would beat Biden by at least 18 points, according to the poll. These figures do not include undecided voters, or those who register between now and the general election.

Earlier, Biden swept all 55 delegates in South Carolina’s Democratic primary on Feb. 3.

Winthrop polled 1,717 registered South Carolina voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.