Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) places third in the poll, with 10.6 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, with 6.7 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, with 4.8 percent.

Carson had 18 percent support in the state in the same poll in September.

The retired neurosurgeon’s decline comes amid a visit to Atlanta on Tuesday. Carson spent much of his speech at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center trying to bolster his foreign policy credentials in the wake of a series of recent terrorist attacks.