South Carolina is now a 5-point race between Donald Trump, Ted Cruz
Donald Trump's double-digit lead in South Carolina has dwindled to a close race. Trump now leads Iowa caucus winner Ted Cruz by just five points in South Carolina, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Friday — down from 16 points a month ago.
Real Clear Politics, which averages several polls, still shows Trump with a big lead of 33 percent to Cruz's 18 percent.
The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll was conducted Feb. 15-17, surveying 722 likely Republican primary voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.