Poll: Voters say Graham shouldn't run for president

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham may be testing the waters for a possible presidential run, but voters back in the Palmetto State seem to think he should stay in the Senate, according to a new poll.

Nearly two in three registered voters — 65.3 percent — surveyed in a Winthrop University poll released Wednesday say the Republican senator should not run for president in 2016, compared to 26 percent who think he should give it a go. Among Republican voters, 56.5 percent responded that Graham should not seek the presidency. And among all respondents, 60.2 percent agree that the state’s senior senator should not run for the White House.


Registered voters are more mixed about the way Graham is handling his job in the Senate, with 46.5 percent approving and 42.7 percent disapproving of his performance.

Graham said he’s not dissuaded by the latest numbers.

“When you look at every candidate, I don’t think a lot of Democrats want me to run at home,” he said. “We’re still hanging in there.”

The senator traveled to Iowa last month to talk to state politicians, military officials and veterans to make his case for a campaign.

“What compels me to run,” Graham said, according to The Des Moines Register, “is that I’ve never been more worried about our nation and the threats we face at home and abroad, and we’re running out of time to deal with these threats.”

The poll was conducted Feb. 21-March 1 via landline and cellphone, surveying 1,109 adults in the state with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Among registered voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, and the margin of error for Republican voters and leaners comes in at plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.