Who’s leading the GOP candidates for governor? Check out this new poll

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster holds a commanding lead in the GOP race for governor, according to a new poll released Friday.

Fifty-one percent of S.C. Republicans polled said they would vote for McMaster. Only 21 percent said they would pick Mount Pleasant attorney and former state agency chief Catherine Templeton.

S.C. Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, picked up 8 percent in the poll, followed by 1 percent who said they would vote for former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill, R-Williamsburg.

About one in five Republicans said they were undecided.

Released Friday, the poll was conducted by Mason Dixon Polling and Strategy from Dec. 6-10 and surveyed 625 registered S.C. voters. The poll included a sample of 400 regular GOP primary voters. The poll was conducted by telephone with live interviewers.

McMaster also dominated his challengers in terms of likeability.

Forty-six percent of Republicans said they have a favorable opinion of the Richland County Republican. Only 23 percent said the same for Templeton.

Seven percent of those polled said they had an unfavorable opinion of McMaster, compared with 2 percent for Templeton.

More than half of Republicans polled – 53 percent – said they did not recognize Templeton’s name at all.

Templeton’s campaign declined to comment on the poll.

McMaster campaign consultant Tim Pearson said, “Polls go up and down, but the fact that if the election was today, Gov. McMaster would win a four-way race without a runoff is great news and shows that the people of South Carolina appreciate the job he is doing and want to see the state continue to move in the right direction.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Who’s leading the GOP candidates for governor? Check out this new poll."