Poll: Christie at 1% in South Carolina, with 59% of Republicans unlikely to support him

Donald Trump has a wide 2-1 lead among likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina, with Ron DeSantis in a statistical tie with two South Carolinians, former Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott, according to a new poll released by National Public Affairs, a Republican firm headed by Trump’s former campaign manager, Bill Stepien.

Trump leads DeSantis, 43%-21%, with former South Carolina Gov. Haley at 19% and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina at 7%.

Just 1% of South Carolina GOP primary voters say they are almost certain to vote for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with 36% saying they are almost certain not to vote for him and another 23% saying they would somewhat not consider him as a presidential candidate in 2024.

“Haley and Scott are the most correlated candidates – and therefore would most likely benefit from the other dropping out,” the poll says.  “DeSantis has the most growth potential because of the overlapping, positive correlations he has with multiple, high-performing candidates.”

DeSantis, the poll says, will “disproportionally benefit from others leaving — or not entering — the race” if he can “maintain his positive image.”

“This analysis also points to President Trump being able to solidify and expand his lead with any deterioration in Governor DeSantis‘s support,” the poll suggested.

Christie trails Mike Pence, Liz Cheney, Kristie Noem, and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Christie and Cheney “have the highest percentage of voters who would not consider voting for them at all.”

The poll was conducted between April 11-14 with a sample size of 538 and a margin of error of +/- 4.2%.