Poll: Huckabee, Romney lead GOP field in South Carolina

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lead the pack of Republican presidential candidates hoping to win South Carolina's GOP primary next year, according to a new poll.

Twenty percent of likely Republican primary voters said they would vote for Huckabee in the South Carolina presidential primary, while 18 percent said they would prefer Romney.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump places third, at 13 percent, in an American Research Group poll. Trump hasn't even traveled to the Palmetto State since beginning to flirt with a possible White House run.

The only other candidate to poll in the double digits is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) — 10 percent of South Carolina Republicans said they would support her in the primary.

South Carolina has an open primary system in which non-registered Republicans can participate in the GOP primary. Of the Republicans likely to participate in the GOP primary, Huckabee surges to 23 percent, but Romney dominates independents who would likely vote in the Republican primary; 26 percent of them said they'd back the former Massachusetts governor.

The poll, conducted April 18-23, has a 4 percent margin of error.