Mitt Romney Wins GOP Presidential Straw Poll

By a single vote, Mitt Romney won the straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership conference here Saturday in a victory that will be taken as a sign of the former Massachusetts governor’s strength as a 2012 presidential candidate. That’s because the 2008 GOP presidential hopeful elected to skip the conference to continue his book tour.

Romney just triumphed over Ron Paul, who took second place, 439 votes to 438. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich tied for third with 18 percent of the vote each.