Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has won a major straw poll in the state of Ohio: the Ohio Republican Party Straw Poll. This is a major step in Romney’s campaign to win the 2012 Republican nomination in a large delegate state like Ohio.
In a poll released last week by Quinnipiac of the 2012 Republican field in Ohio, Romney leads 16%-15% against Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin with her and Texas Governor Rick Perry in the field, with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann receiving 11%. He leads Palin 19%-15% over Palin without Perry in the field. Bachmann receives 14%. Without Palin, but with Perry, Romney leads Bachmann 19%-16%, with Perry in third at 8%.
Romney won the straw poll with 25% of the vote, with a lot of momentum and support among the Ohio GOP. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty received some great news for his campaign: he came in second at the straw poll with 16% of the vote. That shows he has more support than thought in Ohio.
Michele Bachmann came in third, receiving 15% of the vote. Rick Perry came in a close fourth, receiving 14%. But, the catch here is that all of Perry’s votes were write-ins, since Perry has not announced his campaign for President yet (he is very likely to get in), and wasn’t included on the straw poll ballot. This is a good showing in a state pretty far from Texas for Perry.
U.S. Rep. from Texas Ron Paul came in fifth with 9% of the vote. Businessman Herman Cain and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum tied for sixth with 5% of the vote. This is actually an okay showing for Santorum, considering he receives about 2% in most polls. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in eighth with 3%.
A poor showing for former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., who received 2% of the vote at the straw poll. He had the worst showing among the candidate included with the straw poll. His campaign and his views have been compared to Mitt Romney’s, but, he does not have much name recognition and support, and his probably too moderate for the GOP.
Other write-ins that weren’t for Perry made up 6% of the vote out of the 264 ballots cast. Palin, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, Michigan Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani weren’t included in the poll.
(Credit to CNN and Politico for the info)
Do you guys think that Ohio should have more power as a swing state in the presidential primaries and the general election? After all, Ohio can swing to either party. Comments are greatly welcomed.
Coming up in my blog is a new redistricting series of states to make them more favorable for Republicans. Stay tuned!
