Poll: Ron Paul moves into top tier in South Carolina

Poll: Ron Paul moves into top tier in South Carolina

Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has moved into the top tier in South Carolina. Mr. Paul surged four percentage points in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters to tie former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum with 16 percent of the votes each.

The poll, released Friday, was conducted after Tuesday’s New Hampshire Primary. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney bested former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina poll by a margin of 7 percentage points.
   

Exactly one week ago, Rasmussen Reports polled the Palmetto State. At that time, Mr. Paul had 12 percent of the votes and Mr. Santorum had 19 percent of the votes. A week later, Mr. Paul has trended up 4 percentage points and Mr. Santorum has trended down 3 percentage points.

The latest South Carolina poll is also good news for the Gingrich campaign and bad news for the Romney campaign. Mr. Romney is down 9 percentage points to 28 percent of the votes and Mr. Gingrich is up 3 percentage points to 21 percentage points. Mr. Gingrich must finish in the top tier in the South Carolina Primary as he is behind Mr. Romney, Mr. Paul and Mr. Santorum in the delegate count for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mr. Paul’s move into the top tier in South Carolina is most likely a result of his second place finish in the New Hampshire Primary. Mr. Paul’s second place finish was made more impressive by the fact that he bested former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman even though the two were within 2 percentage points of each other in the days leading up to the New Hampshire Primary.

Mr. Paul had re-doubled his fundraising efforts in the Palmetto State. Mr. Paul’s “South Carolina” money bomb, which is scheduled for January 14th, is part of an effort to secure funds for ad buys and campaign events in South Carolina and beyond.

Rasmussen Reports surveyed 750 likely voters in the South Carolina Republican primary on January 12th. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/south-carolina/poll-ron-paul-moves-into-top-tier-in-south-carolina/#ixzz1jMExcxjj


Read more: http://www.thestatecolumn.com/south-carolina/poll-ron-paul-moves-into-top-tier-in-south-carolina/#ixzz1jMEiIpiP