Politics & Government

Ron Paul Wins NH Straw Poll

The Texas congressman won Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll by a commanding margin.

Ron Paul got a great birthday present Saturday, as the 76-year-old defeated 11 other Republicans in Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll.

Paul, a congressman from Texas, won a commanding 45 percent of the vote and bested runner-up Mitt Romney by 35 percent despite not attending the event, which was held in New Castle and also included a lobster bake.

There were 302 ballots cast Saturday, and the full vote results are as follows, in the order the candidates were listed on the ballot: Jon Huntsman - 3 percent ; Herman Cain - 5 percent; Rick Perry - 8 percent; Fred Karger - 0 percent ; Paul - 45 percent; Mitt Romney - 10 percent; Thaddeus McCotter - 8 percent; Rick Santorum - 3 percent; Michele Bachmann - 5 percent; Buddy Roemer - 3 percent; Gary Johnson - 6 percent; and Newt Gingrich - 1 percent.

Find out what's happening in Hampton-North Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Rudy Giuliani and Paul Ryan each received 1 percent of the vote as write-in candidates, while another 1 percent was comprised of candidates who received less than 1 percent, according to event officials.

Gingrich, Perry, Romney and Santorum all were unrepresented at Saturday's event, as no one spoke on their behalf and none had a table at the event.

Find out what's happening in Hampton-North Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

State Sen. Jim Forsythe spoke on behalf of Paul.

Saturday's event, which drew roughly 350 people, also featured a vote for New Hampshire governor.

More to come.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here