JOE WOLVERTON, II
New American
June 19, 2011
Ron Paul won the Republican Leadership Conference straw poll by a landslide in New Orleans Saturday.
In a big win for the Congressman from Texas, he nearly doubled the tally of the second place candidate — Jon Hunstman, the former Governor of Utah.
The top four vote getters were: Rep. Ron Paul (612 votes),
Jon Huntsman (382 votes),
Rep. Michele Bachmann (191 votes), and
Herman Cain (104 votes).
None of the other candidates (Romney, Palin, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Santorum, Johnson, Roemer) garnered above 100 votes.
As for the poll itself, delegates at the convention were asked, “If the primary election for president were held today, for whom would you vote?”
The candidates on the ballot, listed alphabetically, were: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, New Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.
Dr. Paul’s victory was not without controversy, however. Friday night after Herman Cain’s speech, some of Cain’s supporters openly accused the very vocal Ron Paul contingency of booing the former pizza executive. Today, many of those same detractors were heard complaining that the straw poll was fixed, accusing Paul’s campaign of stuffing the virtual ballot box.
Full story here
