COLUMBIA, S.C. _ A poll released Monday by Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling gave former Vice President Joe Biden a more comfortable lead in South Carolina ahead of this week's First in the South primary.
While polls over the last month have placed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders _ the front-runner nationwide _ within striking distance of Biden in South Carolina, Public Policy Polling gave the former vice president a 15-percentage-point lead over the Vermont independent.
"Plenty could happen to change things in the next five days, but for now it looks like Biden's position might be shoring up a little bit in South Carolina," pollsters wrote of their survey of 866 likely Democratic primary voters, reached Sunday and Monday by phone and text.
The poll also called South Carolina "a two-person race," discounting billionaire businessman Tom Steyer, who saw a surge in the Palmetto State after the New Year. Steyer was favored by 7% of the likely voters surveyed, according to the PPP poll.
"Other recent polls have found Steyer's support in the 15-20% range," pollsters wrote. "If he has indeed collapsed, as our poll seems to suggest, it appears his former supporters are making their way to Biden and helping him to open a bigger lead in the state."
Biden also maintained strong support with African Americans _ 50% of those polled stood behind him _ a critical voting bloc that makes up about two-thirds of South Carolina's Democratic electorate. Sanders' support among polled African Americans stood at about 21%, according to the poll.
The race is much closer among white voters, with Sanders and Biden receiving support from 22% and 20% of voters surveyed, respectively, according to the poll.
Biden has always maintained strong support in the African American community, something that has kept him as the front-runner in South Carolina since his announcement.
But as Sanders pulled off wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, his support has grown, according to polls. A Winthrop University poll released Thursday put Sanders just five percentage points away from Biden. In the poll, about one in five voters remained undecided, leaving Sanders with the ability to overtake the former vice president.
The poll also surveyed some supporters of President Donald Trump: about 14% of voters surveyed said they approved on Trump's job performance and planned to vote in the Feb. 29 primary. South Carolina's Republican Party voted last year not to hold a presidential primary.
However, based on the PPP survey, it is unlikely Trump supporters will have the impact some GOP activists are hoping for in their "Operation Chaos" effort, a campaign to encourage Republicans to distrupt the open Democratic primary by voting for Sanders, who they say Trump will beat in November.
According to PPP's findings, "at this point their support is dispersing enough among different candidates not to have a real impact on the race _ 32% are going to Gabbard, 15% to Sanders, and 12% to Biden," pollsters wrote. "Unless Trump himself asks his supporters to go vote for someone in the Democratic primary, that doesn't seem likely to end up being a major factor in the race."
In a pre-primary rally in New Hampshire, Trump did call on his supporters to vote for the "weakest" Democratic hopeful.
"If you want to vote for a weak candidate tomorrow, go ahead and pick one," Trump said at the rally. "Pick the weakest one you think."
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3%.
