Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll on Saturday with 40% of attendees choosing him as their first choice for president.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got 30% of the vote for second place. Donald Trump received 15% and Ohio Gov. John Kasich earned 8%. Dr. Ben Carson, who dropped out of the race this week, got 2%.
The event, held in National Harbor, Maryland, represents a small but vocal segment of the Republican Party. The voters tend to be younger and more libertarian-leaning as the conference is popular with many college students.
The annual straw poll, which was co-sponsored by The Washington Times, was available to CPAC attendees from March 2 to March 5. A total of 2,659 attendees participated in the straw poll.
