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Trump holds double-digit lead in new South Carolina poll

Trump holds double-digit lead in new South Carolina poll
Incumbent Tim Scott holds commanding lead in U.S. Senate race

Columbia, S.C. – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump leads Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by 13 percentage points in South Carolina, according to a new poll commissioned by the South Carolina Republican Party.

Trump currently holds a 48 percent to 35 percent lead over Clinton, with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson garnering 7 percent while 11 percent of voters remain undecided.

Walter Whetsell, president of SC-based political consulting firm, Starboard Communications, conducted the poll and surveyed 600 likely voters using live phoners calling landlines and cell numbers Sept. 7-9. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.8 percent.

“Donald Trump and Mike Pence are well on their way to victory in South Carolina,” said Matt Moore, Chairman of the S.C. Republican Party. “This is the third South Carolina poll in recent weeks showing the strength of our ticket.”

According to Whetsell, Trump performed best in the Pee-Dee based 7th Congressional District, where his lead over Clinton was 57 percent to 42 percent; among those for whom terrorism is their greatest concern, where he led 72 percent to 16 percent; and among those who use Facebook multiple times each day, where he led 57 percent to 26 percent. Clinton performed best among African-American voters, where she led 78 percent to 8 percent; among those who believe “the country is heading in the right direction,” where she led 82 percent to 3 percent; and among voters who believe illegal immigrants currently working in the United States should be legalized rather than deported, where she led 52 percent to 29 percent.

In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Republican Tim Scott leads his Democrat opponent Thomas Dixon 58 percent to 22 percent with 16% undecided.