Poll: Carson passes Trump in S.C. GOP presidential primary

Ben Carson has a narrow lead on Donald Trump in the race to win South Carolina’s February presidential primary, according to a new poll.

Carson, the Maryland retired neurosurgeon, has 28 percent support among Republican voters, according to a poll released by Monmouth University Monday. That is up from the 15 percent support Carson had in an August poll by the university.

Trump, the New York real-estate mogul, is in second place at 27 percent – a slight drop from the 30 percent support he had four months ago.

Carson’s lead is well within the poll’s margin of error.

Trump had led in nine straight S.C. polls since late July, according to Real Clear Politics. His leads reached 23 percentage points in some polls.

Carson and Trump have traded the lead in recent Iowa and national polls. Trump consistently has led in New Hampshire.

In the new S.C. poll, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is third at 11 percent, up from 6 percent four months ago, according to Monmouth.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is in fourth place with 9 percent, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 7 percent, and former chief executive Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 2 percent each.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of Seneca is at 1 percent, down from the 4 percent in the university’s August poll.

Graham, who did not qualify for Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate Tuesday, was tied for seventh in his home state. He is tied with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky at 1 percent.

The poll surveyed 401 likely S.C. GOP presidential primary voters from Nov. 5 through 8. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Poll: Carson passes Trump in S.C. GOP presidential primary."