Ted Cruz Wins Straw Poll In Minnesota
Ted Cruz won the Minnesota straw poll with a distinct victory on Saturday. GOP presidential candidate Macro Rubio came in second place. The Republican Party of Minnesota State Central Committee meeting conducted the poll during a weekend meeting in Monticello.
A Ted Cruz video message played during the convention garnered loud cheers from the Minnesota Republican voters assembled, Twin Cities reports. Video messages from other candidates reportedly met with “more tepid reactions.”
Ted Cruz is working through Iowa’s 99 counties, picking up Trump supporters on the way https://t.co/mv8V8fDz02 pic.twitter.com/0yqGVfW555
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) December 7, 2015
Minnesota Republican delegate Nancy Spangler said about the straw poll winner, “Cruz is the only one who has the courage to stand up to the establishment and fight for our constitution and our liberty.”
The Minnesota straw poll results reveal that Rubio came in second, Carly Fiorina landed in third place, Donald Trump found himself in fourth place, followed by Rand Paul and Ben Carson not far behind. Ted Cruz received a total of 31.8 percent of the straw poll votes, Marco Rubio earned 16.3 percent, Fiorina was given 11.7 percent, and Donald Trump got 10.2 percent of the votes, according to WDAZ8.
Ted Cruz Strikes back against Obama, the “Apologist for Radical Islamic Terrorists” https://t.co/g9BfP2dugz pic.twitter.com/3As3LaKCFI
— Right Winger (@StopLibs) December 5, 2015
A total of 19 Minnesota straw poll delegates said that they were still undecided who they would vote for during the GOP presidential primary season. Jeb Bush and Chris Christie tied in seventh place in the unofficial vote, and Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum tied for eighth place.
Another Republican delegate, Bob Maginnis, said that while he is still undecided who he will ultimately vote for, he cast his straw poll ballot for Marco Rubio. Maginnis said he feels the young Senator, who is becoming the darling of the GOP establishment, has a “darn good shot” at beating Hillary Clinton during the general election.
“Anybody but Hillary, any of the Republican nominees would have a very good shot at beating Hillary Rodham Clinton,” Maginnis added.
The Minnesota presidential caucuses will be held on March 1. Unlike during votes in past election cycles, GOP delegate votes will no longer be non-binding for the national nominating convention, which is held later. The spring caucus results will not determine how many delegates that the candidate receives from the state.
Minnesota Republican Party Chair Keith Downey said that because the caucuses will have more of an impact, he expects to see up to three times the number of attendees to turn out in 2016 than did for the last presidential contest. In 2008, Mitt Romney came in first place, winning 41.4 percent of the vote from more than 60,000 caucus-goers. Romney beat eventual GOP nominee John McCain in the poll. McCain had earned only 22 percent of the vote in the state.
Nailed it => Ted Cruz Slams Obama on Gun Control and ISIS Response https://t.co/ubyt1Whvvf pic.twitter.com/RRB0cYSTjX
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) December 5, 2015
Minnesota Democrats will also host their caucus on that March 1.
Cruz grew up in Houston, Texas, and earned his bachelor’s degree at Princeton University and then graduated from Harvard Law School, Biography notes. The Texas Senator worked as an attorney in the private sector before serving as an adviser on the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush. Ted Cruz was elected to the Senate as a Tea Party favorite in 2012. The Senator staunchly fought against Obamacare and has vowed to repeal and replace the mandatory insurance law if he becomes the next president of the United States.
What do you think about the Ted Cruz straw poll results?
[Image via Scott Morgan/AP]
