Romney Sweeps CPAC Straw Poll
Before it was even announced at the conference, CNN reported Mitt Romney took the straw poll with 38 percent.
Fox News called the win "an unofficial endorsement from party activists that nevertheless helps the former Massachusetts governor burnish his conservative image."
Rick Santorum came in second with 31 percent of the vote. Newt Gingirch trailed significantly with just 15 percent. Ron Paul, who won the previous two CPAC straw polls, received just 12 percent of the votes this year.
From Fox News:
Cheers broke out at the conference when the results were unveiled, a sign of the robust pro-Romney contingent in the audience. The results came in as the GOP candidates competed on the final day of the Republican caucuses in Maine, where Romney and Paul are seen as being in contention for the lead.
Conference organizers also conducted a national survey of 600 conservative voters. That poll also showed Romney leading, though not by much. The national survey showed Romney with 27 percent, followed by Santorum with 25 percent. Gingrich pulled in 20 percent and Paul pulled in 8 percent.
The separate straw poll votes came from 3,408 activists at the conference, which ran from Thursday to Saturday.
Paul, who won the CPAC straw poll in 2010 and 2011, was the only one of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates to skip the conference this year.
(See live streaming of the conference here.)
Smaller government seemed to be of most concern to CPAC voters, though preserving marriage was also a priority.
Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address immediately following the announcement. CNN Reporter Peter Hamby tweeted from CPAC, "the mere mention of Sarah Palin's name just elicited a louder roar from the #CPAC crowd than any of the Republican candidates did."
Check back for Neon Tommy's analysis of these results and coverage of Palin's speech.