Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is leading the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the latest poll out of Tennessee.
The Minnesota congressperson won the Davidson County Republican Party’s straw poll of presidential candidates, taking 20 percent of the vote at the party’s annual picnic last weekend. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney finished second, while former Godfather’s CEO Herman Cain rounded out the top three.
The straw poll also revealed strong support for Texas governor Rick Perry, who is considering entering the 2012 race.
The poll comes as Ms. Bachmann has found serious support among voters in Iowa, where a poll released Sunday showed the Minnesota Republican leading Mr. Romney for the first time. A series of recently released polls earlier this month showed Ms. Bachmann gaining support in New Hampshire, where Mr. Romney is expected to focus his campaign resources in the coming months.
The poll is the first to show support for Ms. Bachmann outside of the primary states, a sign that support for Ms. Bachmann may be nationwide.
The poll comes as the Bachmann campaign is facing criticism over and NBC News undercover video taken from Ms. Bachmann’s husband’s Christian counseling center which “reveals that her therapists are using prayer and Bible scriptures to help cure people of homosexual tendencies.”
