Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul defeated former House Speaker Newt Gingrich Saturday to win a Georgia straw poll conducted by the Gwinnett County Republican Party, Suwanee Patch reports.
Mr. Paul bested Mr. Gingrich, a former Georgia congressman, with 115 votes. The Georgia Republican came in second with 73 votes and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum finished in third with 60 votes. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney finished at the bottom of the Republican pack with 25 votes.
The results of the Georgia straw poll suggest that the latest Georgia polls may not be accurately measuring Mr. Paul’s support in the Peach State. A recent Landmark/Rosetta Stone poll of likely voters in the Georgia Republican primary found Mr. Paul with 5 percent of the votes and Mr. Gingrich with 35 percent of the votes. Other Peach State polls have found Mr. Gingrich with more than 40 percent of the votes.
Mr. Paul’s victory over Mr. Gingrich in the Georgia straw poll is enhanced by the fact that the Georgia Republican spoke later in the day at the same school where the straw poll was conducted.
Mr. Gingrich slammed President Barack Obama’s energy policies while speaking to supporters at Collins Hill High. The Georgia Republican said that the “left has a phobia about oil as an industry” and that Mr. Obama’s energy policies have hurt America’s oil industry.
While Mr. Gingrich has been campaigning in the South where he is expected to win several states, Mr. Paul has been campaigning in the Pacific Northwest. The former Air Force surgeon slammed the war on drugs Thursday.
“If we are allowed to deal with our eternity and all that we believe in spiritually, and if we’re allowed to read any book that we want under freedom of speech, why is it we can’t put into our body whatever we want?” Mr. Paul posited to a group of supporters in Vancouver, Washington, according to The Associated Press. The Texas congressman will face the remaining Republican candidates in the Washington Republican caucuses on March 3rd.
Mr. Paul’s victory in the Georgia straw poll is another example of the mobility and organization of his supporters. The Texas congressman has won numerous online and offline straw polls throughout the 2012 presidential race.
