Former President Donald Trump is dominating presidential hopeful Nikki Haley in her own backyard of South Carolina, a Morning Consult poll released this week found.
The survey asked registered voters planning to vote in South Carolina’s February 24 Republican primary race who they support. A majority, 68 percent, said Trump. Haley came 37 points behind the former president, garnering just 31 percent support in her home state:
Further, the survey found that “data suggests things will only get worse as she heads toward Super Tuesday on March 5, when conservatives in many states across the country look primed to head to the polls and deliver a resounding victory for Trump.”
A brief look at the survey’s results show Trump leading Haley with majority support in states such as Alabama, California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The South Carolina portion of the survey was taken January 23 to February 4, 2024, among 414 registered South Carolina voters who are likely to participate in the GOP primary. It has a +/- 5 percent margin of error.
Following her loss in New Hampshire, Haley made it clear that she intends to stay in the GOP primary race through Super Tuesday.
“There are dozens of states left to go, and the next one is my sweet state of South Carolina,” Haley told the crowd of supporters following her loss in the Granite State. In a move that is, perhaps, more telling, Haley’s campaign released a memo hours ahead of New Hampshire’s results, laying out her path beyond the state, seemingly anticipating the dour results. Further, her campaign made it clear in the memo that Haley is largely depending on non-conservative voters in open primary states to help her rack up delegates. As Breitbart News reported:
The memo lays out what it apparently views as Haley’s path to victory, including a strong performance in South Carolina, which has no party registration. Then the campaign moves on to Michigan, the memo states, which has an open primary.
The memo adds that 11 of the 16 Super Tuesday states have open or “semi-open” primaries. In other words, the campaign believes there is “significant fertile ground” for Haley on Super Tuesday, attracting non-conservative voters.
“After Super Tuesday, we will have a very good picture of where this race stands,” the memo continued.
But if the survey results are any indicator, it is not looking good for Haley.