(RoyalPatriot.com )- An internal campaign poll conducted by South Carolina Republican candidate Russell Fry shows the primary challenger has a 20-point lead over incumbent GOP Congressman Tim Rice.
Rice fell out of favor after he voted to impeach former President Donald Trump last year, so former President Donald Trump has endorsed Russell Fry’s primary challenge against him for SC House District 17.
Fry’s internal campaign poll also found that 63 percent of respondents who voted in the Republican primary before would not be voting for Rice in the upcoming June primary. Only 21 percent said they would.
The internal poll had Fry leading the crowded primary field with 39 percent. Tim Rice came in second place with 18 percent. The other four primary candidates in the race were in the single digits. However, 24 percent of respondents remain undecided.
But when the campaign told respondents that Russell Fry was endorsed by former President Trump, his support increased to 52 percent while Rice’s support increased from 18 percent to 22 percent.
Everyone else remained in the single digits while the undecided dropped to 15 percent.
The survey of 615 likely SC-17 Republican primary voters was conducted by the Fry campaign from March 13 to 15. It had a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
Another South Carolina Republican incumbent facing a Trump-backed primary challenge is Congresswoman Nancy Mace. Mace, who was endorsed by Trump in 2020, did not vote to impeach the former president, but she did criticize Trump’s post-election behavior and accused him of helping to incite the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Republican Katie Arrington, who ran for the seat in 2018 and lost, is among the candidates challenging Mace in the June primary. Trump endorsed Arrington last month.