Donald Trump takes a huge lead in new SC poll
The 2016 Donald Trump phenomenon is not going away.
The New York real estate mogul holds a commanding lead in a new poll of likely S.C. GOP presidential primary voters released Tuesday.
Trump received 30 percent of support — double of the second-place contender, retired surgeon Ben Carson, according to the poll from Monmouth University in New Jersey.
They are followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (9 percent), former chief executive Carly Fiorina (6 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (6 percent) and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (5 percent).
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham each received 4 percent of support. They has been vying for second place in spring polls.
Graham and Trump sparred bit again Tuesday after they had a spat last month that included Trump outing the senator’s cell phone number.
Graham told CNN that, "I'll beat his brains out," in South Carolina.
Trump tweeted back: “Congrats @LindseyGrahamSC. You just got 4 points in your home state of SC—far better than zero nationally. You’re only 26 pts behind me.”
About one in 10 likely GOP primary voters have not chosen a favorite in the Monmouth poll.
A wide group of voters back Trump, who is coming Thursday to Greenville.
He leads among conservatives, moderates and Tea Party supporters, Monmouth found. Trump tops Carson 33 percent-18 percent among evangelical Christians.
The former reality TV star even leads among women voters —25 percent to 18 percent over Carson — despite criticism over sexist comments.
Trump’s dominance comes as S.C. voters indicate they want a political outsider in the White House.
Likely S.C. Republican primary voters say prefer a president from outside government over someone with government experience by a 61 percent to 28 percent margin.
The Monmouth polled 453 S.C. voters last week who cast a ballot in the 2012 or 2014 Republican primary or general election and planned to vote in the Feb. 20 presidential primary. The margin of error is plus of minus 4.6 percent.
This story was originally published August 25, 2015 at 2:16 PM.