Conservatives, economy fuel Gingrich win in SC

Underscoring how poorly Romney fared in South Carolina, only about 4 in 10 voters Saturday said they could enthusiastically back Romney should he eventually win the GOP nomination.

Romney's defeat was so sweeping that he lost to Gingrich among voters of every age. The only income group that Romney won was people making above $200,000 a year — 1 in 20 of those who voted Saturday.

The exit poll also showed that around two-thirds of voters approve of the job Nikki Haley is doing as governor, a job she won with strong tea party support. Haley endorsed Romney but 7 in 10 tea party backers gave her high marks anyway.

The survey was conducted for AP and the television networks by Edison Research as voters left their polling places at 35 randomly selected sites in South Carolina. The survey involved interviews with 2,381 voters and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Associated Press global polling director Trevor Tompson contributed to this report.