Getty Poll: Carson and Trump in close fight for S.C. voters

Ben Carson and Donald Trump are locked in a fierce fight for South Carolina Republicans, finishing in a virtual tie among likely voters, according to the results of the latest Monmouth University poll released Monday.

Carson drew 28 percent, while Trump earned 27 percent, a significantly different result than last month's CNN/ORC poll which found Trump leading Carson 36 percent to 18 percent. Behind the two leaders, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio had 11 percent, followed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 9 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 7 percent. All other candidates earned 2 percent or less support, with 9 percent undecided.


Carson also led the field in terms of favorability, drawing a net positive rating of 64 points (76 percent to 12 percent), followed by Rubio at a positive 44 points (62 percent to 18 percent), Cruz at a positive 31 points (52 percent to 21 percent), and Trump at positive 29 points (58 percent to 29 percent) and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina also at a positive 29 points (51 percent to 22 percent).

Of the candidates who were tested on favorability, only South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (30 percent to 53 percent) and Bush (41 percent to 43 percent) finished with a higher share of unfavorable to favorable. Graham's favorability numbers are similar to his August figures, but in Bush's case, it is a precipitous drop from his net-positive rating of 20 points (52 percent to 32 percent) in the last survey.

Carson also leads Trump among evangelical Christians (33 percent to 24 percent), a reversal of the August poll which found Trump with a 33 percent to 18 percent edge. Voters younger than 50 opted for Carson to the tune of 38 percent, while 24 percent went for Trump. Among those 65 years and older, Trump held a slim lead of 26 percent to Rubio's 19 percent and Carson at 17 percent.

The poll was conducted Nov. 5-8, surveying 401 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters drawn from a list of those who participated in at least one state primary in 2012 or 2014, or in both general elections in those cycles. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.