Former reality-television host Donald Trump has a substantial 16-point lead in the Republican primary contest in South Carolina on the heels of his New Hampshire primary victory, according to an Opinion Savvy poll released Friday.
The poll, which was the first taken in South Carolina since before the New Hampshire primary, also indicates that competition for second place remains tight in a spread that is consistent with much national polling and with most previous poll results.
The poll showed support for Trump in South Carolina at 36 percent, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) at 20 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) at 15 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) at 11 percent.
This indicates only minor shifts in the South Carolina race following the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. When Opinion Savvy polled the state last month, it found Trump leading at 32 percent, followed by Cruz at 18 percent, Bush at 13 percent and Rubio at 11 percent.
TPM’s PollTracker Average shows Trump leading in the state by 36.8 percent, followed by Cruz at 19.7 percent, Rubio at 13 percent and Bush at 9.8 percent.
The Opinion Savvy poll of likely Republican voters was carried out from Feb. 10-11. Pollsters surveyed 779 people using Interactive Voice Recognition software, with a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.
