New poll: Clinton, Trump ‘virtually tied’ in SC

Just how close is the presidential race in South Carolina? Maybe closer than you think.

A new poll by Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton is within two percentage points of Donald Trump in South Carolina.

Trump has the support of 41 percent of S.C. voters, the poll found, with Clinton at 39 percent.

“The closeness is a function of Democrats being a lot happier with their party's candidate than Republicans are with theirs,” Public Policy said.

The poll found Clinton winning 84 percent of S.C. Democratic voters, while Trump is only winning 77 percent of S.C. Republicans.

The poll, commissioned by the S.C. Democratic Party, recorded nearly equal favorability ratings on the two candidates. Clinton is viewed favorably by 38 percent of those polled and unfavorably by 55 percent. Trump is also viewed favorably by 38 percent and unfavorably by slightly more than Clinton, 56 percent.

"This is the beginning of a long-awaited electoral shift in South Carolina and the nation," said Todd Rutherford of Columbia, the Democratic minority leader in the S.C. House of Representatives.

"By nominating Donald Trump for president of the United States,” Rutherford said, “the Republican Party has abdicated its role as a serious political party ... and transformed into the world's largest and angriest comment section.”

Five percent of South Carolinians are planning to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, and 2 percent will vote for the Green Party’s Jill Stein, the poll found.

Trump is leading in South Carolina only because he out-polls Clinton among voters older than 65, winning that group 58 percent to 30 percent. Among voters younger than 65, Clinton leads 41-36.

S.C. Democrats also touted other results from the poll, including its findings that:

▪ 84 percent of those surveyed support requiring universal criminal background checks for firearm purchases

▪ 81 percent support barring firearm purchases by people on the terrorist watch list

▪ 77 percent support increasing the minimum wage

▪ 78 percent support allowing student loans to be refinanced at lower rates

▪ 53 percent support legislation protecting LGBT South Carolinians from discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public accommodations

Those majorities reflect Democratic positions.

"These poll results confirm what has been apparent to me for quite some time: South Carolinians are rejecting the failed policies of the Republican Party and the dangerous divisiveness of their leader, Donald Trump,” S.C. Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

S.C. Republican chairman Matt Moore is taking the results of the Public Policy poll seriously, saying Republicans will have to work to ensure South Carolina stays in the “red” column this fall.

“These numbers are certainly surprising compared to recent history,” Moore said. “South Carolina Republicans must take the presidential race seriously. It’s time to get to work.”

The poll of 1,290 S.C. voters was conducted Aug. 9 and 10. It has a 2.7 percent margin of error.

This story was originally published August 11, 2016 at 11:40 AM with the headline "New poll: Clinton, Trump ‘virtually tied’ in SC."