Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich handily won a straw poll conducted on Sunday night of more than 23,000 activists affiliated with the Tea Party Patriots organization.
The former speaker of the House won 31 percent of the vote, according to results released on Monday morning. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann followed with 28 percent.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in third with 20 percent, and Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum followed with 16 percent of the votes cast.
Gingrich, Bachmann, Romney and Santorum all took questions from the activists during a conference call before the voting.
“I would love to have the support of your team,” Romney told Tea Party Patriots national coordinator Jenny Beth Martin after taking the tele-forum questions.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul came in at 3 percent, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 2 percent and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman at .3 percent. None of those three addressed the activists on Sunday night.