Lindsey Graham leads presidential poll in SC

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham leads 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls among potential GOP voters in his home state, according to a NBC News/Marist poll released Sunday.

But the Seneca Republican is struggling to find the same backing in other early primary states. And nearly six out of 10 S.C. registered voters said Graham ought to sit out the 2016 presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dominated Vice President Joe Biden, who is visiting Columbia and Charleston this week, by a large margin among S.C. Democratic voters, the poll found.

Graham, who has said he will decide by May on a presidential bid, received 17 percent of support. He's just ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (15 percent) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (12 percent).

Walker is scheduled to visit South Carolina next month. Bush gave the fall commencement address at the University of South Carolina.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson were the only other candidates to grab double-digit backing.

Graham's popularity in South Carolina, however, is not translating to other early primary states.

Graham received just 1 percent of support from potential Iowa caucus goers and New Hampshire primary voters, according to the NBC News/Marist poll.

Bush and Walker top the New Hampshire poll, while Huckabee had a slight lead on the pair in Iowa.

Graham is making his first visit to an early presidential primary state since announcing a committee to test a White House run. He heads to Iowa for meetings and events on Thursday and Friday.

Republican voters in all three early primary states held favorable views on some key issues for Graham -- including sending more U.S. troops to Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS, ending Common Core education standards and repealing the federal health care insurance law.

One trouble spot for Graham might be immigration reform. Most GOP voters said they would not accept a candidate who supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

On the Democratic side, Clinton led Biden by 65 percent to 20 percent in South Carolina. Clinton's leads over Biden were wider in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Head to head in South Carolina, Bush had a slight lead on Clinton among registered voters, but the former New York senator was in a dead heat with Walker.

In other findings, Republican S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley had a 64 percent approval rating among registered voters, the poll found. Democratic President Barack Obama netted a 44 percent approval mark in South Carolina.

The NBC News/Marist poll in South Carolina was conducted on Feb. 3 to Feb. 10 with 450 potential GOP primary voters and 352 potential Democratic primary voters. The error margin for GOP voters was plus-minus 4.6 percentage points and plus-minus 5.2 percentage points for Democratic voters.

This story was originally published February 15, 2015 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Lindsey Graham leads presidential poll in SC."