Respective Republican and Democratic presidential frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are leading their rival candidates by wide margins in South Carolina.
According to the CBS News Battleground Tracker poll, Trump is the preferred candidate in the state by more than 20 points. He has received 42% support while his next-closest competitor, Ted Cruz, has received 20%. The two are followed by Marco Rubio (15%), John Kasich (9%), Jeb Bush (6%), and Ben Carson (6%).
CBS News reports that Trump has seen increased support from evangelical and conservative voters, and ranks as a favorite among moderates, while Cruz leads among voters who categorize themselves as very conservative. Kasich’s promising performance in New Hampshire likely gave him more name-recognition among voters, though he lacks support from evangelicals, a core group in the southern state.
Among Democratic voters, Clinton leads Bernie Sanders with a 19-point lead. She received 59% support, which is slightly down from last month, but still a solid lead over Sanders’ 40%. Many of South Carolina’s Democratic voters are African-American, and Clinton has received a lot of support from that group in the state. Sanders has strong support among white voters and young voters, which helped him tremendously in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The Republican primary in South Carolina is set for Feb. 20, and the Democratic primary is scheduled for the following week.
