Michigan native and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has won the Michigan Republican presidential straw poll.
Mr. Romney won the straw poll with 51 percent of the 681 votes cast. His top rival for the nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, finished second with 17 percent. Former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive Herman Cain, who won the Florida straw poll Saturday, finished third in Michigan with 9 percent, according to the results announced Sunday morning.
It was the second day of bad news for Mr. Perry, who lost to former Godfather’s CEO Herman Cain in a Florida straw poll Saturday before heading to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan. Mr. Perry’s second-place finish in Florida came just days after he was widely seen as the losing candidate in a Republican presidential debate in Orlando, Florida.
Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio was the choice for the vice presidential nominee with 23 percent of the votes.
In the straw poll, Mr. Romney won 50.1 percent of the 681 votes cast compared to 16.8 percent for Mr. Perry. Both Mr. Perry and Mr. Romney addressed supporters at the event, calling on Michigan Republicans to support their respective campaigns.
Mr. Cain, Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry were followed by Texas congressman Ron Paul with 8 percent; Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann, 4 percent; former House speaker Newt Gingrich, 4 percent; former Pennsylvania U.S. senator Rick Santorum, 3 percent; and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., 2 percent.
