California GOP primary voters rank economy as most important issue in NBC News exit polls

A plurality of Republican primary voters in California said the economy was the most important issue to their vote, an NBC News exit poll found.

The survey found 43% of GOP primary voters ranked the economy as their most important issue, followed by immigration at 39%, foreign policy at 9% and abortion at 8%.

Among those who ranked economy as their top issue, 78% said they thought former President Donald Trump was the better candidate to handle the economy, 21% said former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

California Republican primary voters also said they had a grim view of the economy overall, with 55% saying the condition of the country's economy is poor and 28% said it's not good. Only 10% of California Republican primary voters had a positive view of the economy.

California was one of 16 states that held its primary elections on Tuesday. Known as Super Tuesday, hundreds of delegates are at stake in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Follow live updates on Super Tuesday here.