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A new poll released Wednesday finds former President Donald Trump's dominance in the GOP primary extending to South Carolina, despite the presence of two prominent Palmetto State Republicans in the race.
A Monmouth University-Washington Post poll finds 46% of potential Republican primary voters in South Carolina backing Trump, far outpacing the rest of the GOP field.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump's ambassador to the United Nation, has the second-highest level of support at 18%, followed by one of the state's GOP senators, Tim Scott, at 10%.
Haley and Scott fare better in the South Carolina poll than they typically do in national surveys, but Trump's lead underscores how they and others have struggled to peel away Trump's supporters.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has support from 9% of respondents, followed by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 5%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 3%, businessman Ramaswamy at 3% and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson at 2%.
DeSantis leads the field when voters were asked about their second choice, with 21% saying he would be their second choice if their first-choice candidate drops out of the race.
Trump, Haley and Scott are among the most well-liked candidates in the survey, with around 60% of respondents saying they had favorable opinions of them. Christie has the highest unfavorable rating at 61%.
The poll surveyed 506 potential GOP primary voters in South Carolina from Sept. 6-11 via phone and online surveys. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.
