Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, surged 23 points in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll of likely South Carolina Republican primary voters. Mr. Santorum garnered 24 percentage points, while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney pulled in 27 percent of the votes. Back in November, Mr. Santorum had 1 percent of the votes in the Palmetto State.
Mr. Santorum’s surge in the Palmetto State is most likely due to his 2nd place finish in the Iowa Caucuses on January 3rd. Mr. Santorum earned 24.5 percent of the votes in the Iowa Caucuses, but was bested by Mr. Romney’s 24.6 percent of the votes. However, the difference between first and second place in the Iowa Caucuses came down to 8 votes.
Mr. Romney also appears to have been helped by a strong finish in the Iowa Caucuses and pizza baron Herman Cain’s early exit from the GOP race. In a November Rasmussen Reports poll of the Palmetto State, Mr. Romney garnered 23 percent of the votes and Mr. Cain pulled in 33 percent of the votes.
In the latest South Carolina poll, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is in third place with 18 percent of the votes and Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is in fourth place with 11 percent of the votes.
Mr. Santorum’s 2nd place finish in the Iowa Caucuses has also helped him in the Granite State. Mr. Santorum rose two points to 8 percent of the votes in a 7 New/Suffolk University poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters released Thursday.
Rasmussen Reports interviewed 750 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters on January 5th. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
