In the second day of Public Polling Policy’s planned three day “tracking” style polling this week, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is the top vote getter in South Carolina, while rival candidates Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum trail.
According to the poll released Thursday night, Mr. Gingrich garners 35 percent of the votes while Mr. Romney trails him at 29 percent. Mr. Paul and Mr. Santorum are tied for third place at 15 percent. The latest results are similar to how the votes fared in PPP’s Wednesday polling of voters in South Carolina, as they are conducting three consecutive days of polling leading up to Saturday’s South Carolina Republican primary election.
The poll conducted on Thursday did not include an option for Texas Governor Rick Perry, who dropped out of the race Thursday morning and endorsed Mr. Gingrich.
“Newt Gingrich continues to hold a modest lead in South Carolina,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “The big questions now are what effect tonight’s debate will have, and whether he’ll see any fallout from his ex-wife’s interview with ABC once more voters become familiar with it.”
Another factor to consider is what the certified results of the Iowa caucus voting released Thursday could mean for Mr. Santorum’s campaign. The Iowa Republican Party released the certified results Thursday indicating that missing votes showed the former Pennsylvania senator winning by 35 votes.
Mr. Gingrich finished the poll winning the most voters who identify themselves as either Tea Party Republicans, conservative Republicans, or evangelical Christians. The former House speaker also does surprisingly well with voters who described themselves as “somewhat liberal,” as he tied Mr. Paul with 30 percent in that category.
Mr. Romney leads among voters who identify themselves as moderate Republicans.
In the PPP poll conducted on Wednesday Mr. Paul held a slight lead on Mr. Santorum for third place. However the poll conducted Thursday was among more voters and did not include Mr. Perry. It will be interesting to see how the absence of Mr. Perry from the race affects voters on Saturday. The Texas governor had been consistently polling at or below the 5-6 percent range through Thursday when he announced the suspension of his campaign.
The latest PPP poll released Thursday night was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday among 836 likely Republican primary voters. Voters who selected Mr. Perry on Wednesday were reallocated to their second choice. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
The PPP pollsters are planning to release one final poll of South Carolina voters on Friday following a very eventful day in the Republican primary race.
