Though Donald Trump continues to lead heading in to South Carolina’s primary Saturday, a new poll suggests his support could be fading in the campaign’s final days.
According to the NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist survey released Friday, the billionaire businessman leads the Republican race in the Palmetto State with 28% support. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is in second at 23%.
Trump’s lead is narrower than other polls of South Carolina Republicans have shown. A CNN poll of polls from Thursday had the average Trump lead over Cruz in recent polls at 16 percentage points, and a Fox News poll conducted on the same days as the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll found Trump up 13 percentage points over Cruz.
In Friday’s poll, Rubio trails in third with 15%, just ahead of Jeb Bush at 13%. John Kasich and Ben Carson are tied with 9%.
While the GOP race can be cleaved into three clear tiers in South Carolina, the Democratic side is more lopsided. Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 60% to 32% among likely Democratic voters in the state.
The CNN poll of polls for Democrats in South Carolina also showed a significant Clinton lead, though smaller: 56% to 32%.
The WSJ/NBC News poll surveyed 722 likely Republican voters and 425 likely Democratic voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6% for the Republicans, and plus or minus 4.8% for Democrats. The poll was conducted between February 15 and 17.