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Cain, McCalister win Tea Party Convention straw polls

Posted Nov 7, 2011 by William March

Updated Nov 7, 2011 at 11:23 AM

Herman Cain and Mike McCalister were big winners in Republican primary straw polls at the Florida Tea Party Convention held in Daytona Beach this weekend—each got 50 percent of the votes among the 450 people who paid to participate in the poll.

In the presidential primary, NewT Gingrich was second with 23 percent, followed by Ron Paul, 6 percent, Michele Bachmann, 5 percent, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, 4 percent each, Rick Perry, 2 percent and John Huntsman, 0, according to an announcement by convention spokesman Sid Van Landingham of Clermont, a member of the South Lake 9-12 Tea Party group.

Santorum was the only candidate in the straw poll to appear at the convention in person. Cain, Gingrich and Bachmann answered question through a live feed, event organizers said.

In the Senate contest, Ron McNeil was second with 30 percent, followed by Marielana Stewart with 9 percent, Craig Miller 7 percent, George LeMieux 2 percent, Adam Hasner and Deon Long, 1 percent each. The ballot didn’t include Rep. Connie Mack, who’s expected to announce soon but hasn’t yet; Mack, Hasner and LeMieux weren’t at the convention.