Mike Huckabee won the Values Voter Summit Presidential Straw Poll. This is the second straw poll that was ever conducted at the Values Voter Summit and was only open to registered participants, who were in attendance. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said, “We were surprised that the event’s turnout was more than double our expectations, clearly showing intensity among social conservatives. This was the first time potential conservative candidates could present their vision for change. We have over 1,800 registrants and over 175,000 unique online viewers.”
Below are the results of the poll:
1. Mike Huckabee (170 votes, 28.48%)
2. Mitt Romney (74 votes, 12.40%)
3. Tim Pawlenty (73 votes, 12.23%)
4. Sarah Palin (72 votes, 12.06%)
5. Mike Pence (71 votes, 11.89%)
6. Newt Gingrich (40 votes, 6.70%)
7. Bobby Jindal (28 votes, 4.69%)
8. Rick Santorum (15 votes, 2.51%)
9. Ron Paul (13 votes, 2.18%)
10. Undecided (31 votes, 5.19%)
11. Other (10 votes, 1.68%)
Huckabee actually won the last Values Voter Straw Poll as well among votes cast by those in attendance, but lost the overall straw poll because Romney supporters dominated the on-line voting. This year, FRC did away with the on-line voting and, not surprisingly, the change worked to Huckabee's advantage.
Though I have to say that Huckabee doesn't seem particularly impressed with his own victory, given this rather muted statement he released:
Its always flattering to win one of these but its a long way from deciding to run and from the election. My heartfelt thanks for the affirmation of the people at the values voter summit.
