Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll and Maine Caucuses
The Conservative Political Action Conference is a key annual gathering of right-leaning Republican activists. While some have called Mitt Romney a moderate and contested his conservatism, CPAC upheld Romney’s conservative stance, giving impetus to his campaign. Romney defeated Rep. Ron Paul (Tex.), who won the poll the last two years.
At the straw poll conducted at the CPAC event in Washington, Romney won 38 percent of the 3,408 votes cast, giving him a healthy cushion over the 31 percent won by Santorum. Gingrich won 15 percent of the vote and Paul took 12 percent. [1]
Romney then won 39 percent of the votes of those who took part in a presidential poll at Maine caucus sites; Ron Paul took 36 percent of the vote, while former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum captured 18 percent. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich won 6 percent.
Romney will not be awarded delegates from the wins, though the Maine results could be mirrored at a state convention in May where the state’s 24 delegates will be awarded. [1]
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