Politics

Who do conservatives want to run for president?

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul won the 2016 presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz coming in a distant second.

Paul took 31 percent of the vote in the poll, which was conducted from Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon and surveyed 2,459 people. Votes were cast in person at the conference and through the CPAC app.

Cruz came in second, with 11 percent of the vote, followed by Dr. Ben Carson, at nine percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came in at eight percent; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum tied at 7 percent. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got six percent, and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan tied with Texas Gov. Rick Perry at three percent.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin all tied at two percent.

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Of the 2,459 people who voted, 46 percent were between 18 and 25, and 63 percent were male.

The poll was conducted by Fabrizio, Lee, and Associates. There were 26 candidates on the ballot. Nine percent of voters chose someone other than those candidates listed above.

A competing straw poll conducted online by Senate Conservatives Fund on Saturday for people who could not attend CPAC was won by Cruz, with 42.46 percent of the vote. Paul was a distant second at 17.38 percent. 41,000 people responded to the poll.

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