A straw poll conducted in Michigan over the weekend found Rand Paul leading the pack of potential GOP candidates in 2016. This is the second straw poll Paul has won so far this year; the first was the CPAC straw poll.
Out of 526 people, 188 voted for Paul, giving him 36 percent of the vote. Gongwer News Service and Decider Strategies conducted the unofficial poll at the Mackinac conference over the weekend.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another party favorite with high approval ratings, came in second place, winning 16 percent of the vote.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.), Gov. Scott Walker (Wis.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) trailed behind Paul and Christie.
Rand Paul, Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal gave speeches at this conference. Mitt Romney won this straw poll both in 2007 and 2011.
Although Senator Paul has not yet announced any sort of bid for the Republican nomination, many see him as a potential front runner. These early straw polls are hard to connect to reality, but there is potential with these two. Until a couple of months before the start of primary season, when the Iowa Ames Straw Poll comes out, we won’t really know who will be the republican nominee.