A majority (58%) of potential Republican primary voters currently support Trump (up from 46% in September) while 32% support Haley (up from 18% in the fall). Trump commands majority support among both men (62%) and women (54%) and all age groups (62% among those ages 18 to 49, 58% among those ages 50 to 64, and 57% of those age 65 and older). He has especially high levels of support among white evangelicals (69%) and voters without a college degree (68%). Trump splits the vote with Haley among voters who are not white evangelical (46% to 42% for Haley) and college graduates (44% to 46% for Haley).

Trump’s legal problems are not much of a concern among South Carolina’s Republican primary voters. Fully 3 in 5 (60%) say the GOP should keep Trump on the ticket if he wins the nomination but is convicted of a crime related to the 2020 election. A similar 62% say they would still cast a general election ballot for Trump in that situation while just 17% would vote for incumbent President Joe Biden. Among current Trump supporters in the state’s primary, 88% feel he should stay on the ticket even if convicted, with 90% saying they would still vote for him over Biden in November.

As it stands now, 7 in 10 voters believe Trump would definitely (42%) or probably (29%) beat Biden in November.

[This is the first independent poll in the field in four weeks, as well as the first since Iowa and New Hampshire. Haley appears to have consolidated the non-Trump vote in her home state, but that’s all. This poll gives Trump his highest level of support yet in the state, and although it’s not the widest gap, it comes very close to Emerson’s 29-point lead at the beginning of January. Haley thus far hasn’t moved the needle in her home state. — Ed]