Poll: South Carolina wants Graham to end White House run

by Bradford Richardson - 09/09/15 1:31 PM ET

An overwhelming majority of voters from Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) home state think he should drop out of the Republican presidential race, according to a poll released by Public Policy Polling on Wednesday.

Seventy-eight percent of Republicans in South Carolina say the senator should end his campaign, compared to 15 percent who believe he should continue to run.

{mosads}Graham’s sinking popularity may be due in part to his constant attacks on GOP primary front-runner Donald Trump, who holds a double-digit lead in the South Carolina primary.

Graham has previously said he would “beat [Trump’s] brains out” in the state’s primary.

But the real estate mogul beats the senator 72 percent to 20 percent in a head-head-head poll of South Carolina voters.

Graham’s favorability numbers in the state have also dipped during his listless White House bid.

Only 36 percent of Republican voters in the state approve of the senator’s job performance, while 51 percent disapprove. These numbers were nearly reversed from the same poll in February, when 54 percent of respondents approved and 29 percent disapproved of Graham.

Thirty-seven percent of South Carolina voters support Trump in the GOP primary, according to the poll, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 21 percent support.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) tie for third with 6 percent support each, followed by a trio of Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.) with 4 percent support each.

Graham ties with several other Republicans in the field at 3 percent support.

Tags Lindsey Graham