Iowa Straw Poll Results

I’ve got the results of the Iowa Republican straw poll, and it looks like I wasn’t too far off with my predictions. According to the CNN Political Ticker, Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican straw poll, with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee finishing second and Senator Sam Brownback finishing third. I had Romney winning the straw poll, with Brownback coming in second and Huckabee coming in third. I may not have predicted the correct order of finish, but at least I got the top three right.

Here’s a complete list of all the candidates, along with their totals from the straw poll:

• MITT ROMNEY 4,516 VOTES 31.6%
• MIKE HUCKABEE 2,587 VOTES 18.1%
• SAM BROWNBACK 2,192 VOTES 15.3%
• TOM TANCREDO 1,961 VOTES 13.7%
• RON PAUL 1,305 VOTES 9.1%
• TOMMY THOMPSON 1,039 VOTES 7.3%
• FRED THOMPSON 203 VOTES 1.4%
• RUDY GIULIANI 183 VOTES 1.3%
• DUNCAN HUNTER 174 VOTES 1.2%
• JOHN MCCAIN 101 VOTES .7%
• JOHN COX 41 VOTES .3%

As I look at the results, I’m struck by the fact that Senator John McCain got fewer votes than Congressman Duncan Hunter. I’m also struck by the fact that “America’s mayor” finished firmly in the bottom half of Republican candidates, getting only a few votes more than Congressman Duncan. I know Rudy Giuliani had ignored Iowa until just recently, but I would have expected him to finish higher than seventh in an eleven candidate straw poll. I’m also just a little surprised by Ron Paul’s relatively strong showing, especially given the amount of time he’s spent in Iowa. So now that the results are in, I anticipate Tommy Thompson will be a man of his word and drop out of the race, and I can’t help but wonder if Duncan Hunter will take a good long look at doing the same.