Sanford Inches Ahead in Latest SC1 Poll

CHARLESTON, SC -- The last poll before Tuesday’s election in the First Congressional District shows former Gov. Mark Sanford ahead of Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch by one percentage point.

The results from Public Policy Polling (PPP) show that Sanford has recovered from the contempt of court charges that wobbled his campaign last month. He leads Colbert Busch by 47 to 46 percent. The Green Party’s Eugene Platt drew four percent of the support.

The margin of error was is +/-2.8 percent, which means the race is effectively a dead heat. According to PPP, 1,239 likely voters were surveyed on May 4^th and 5^th.

Aside from the head-to-head match-up the key figures were with respect to favorability. Exactly half of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of Colbert Busch while 44 percent did not. For Sanford those figures are 43/54. Those might seem to indicate that Colbert Busch is a virtual lock to win, except her numbers have gotten worse since the last poll while Sanford’s have gotten better.

The favorable/unfavorable trend shows that the Sanford campaign’s strategy of linking Colbert Busch to the extremely unpopular Nancy Pelosi has worked. For weeks, Sanford has questioned the former House Speaker’s influence in the race, even going so far as to “debate” a cardboard cutout of her.

Interestingly, the endorsements of Sanford by Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham, and Nikki Haley were viewed more negatively than positively. But most voters said they wouldn’t be influenced by the endorsements at all.

The complete poll with crosstabs is attached to this article.

Keep up with all of Patch's coverage of South Carolina politics by following us on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.