Ron Paul wins California straw poll, Perry finishes second

This weekend saw a little 2012 movement with the California Straw Poll taking place on Saturday, September 17th. As is becoming a familiar result at events which can be organized for, Texas Congressman Ron Paul won the poll easily while Texas Governor Rick Perry picked up the second place title.

Report from Politico:

In what’s becoming an increasingly familiar pattern, Ron Paul won the California Republican Party’s straw poll tonight, party officials said. Rick Perry came in second, and Mitt Romney was the distant third.

It was not a prize that most campaigns were organizing for, given how blue the state is electorally (Romney is not taking part in straw polls this year, as part of his campaign’s way around the Ames event last month). The state’s main draw for Republicans is as a campaign ATM.

Paul’s supporters have tended to be organized around straw polls – he won the CPAC version again this year, for instance. A pro-Rick Perry super PAC, Americans for Rick Perry, has a main consultant who is based out of California, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether they put any measurable effort behind this event.

Results of the 900-vote pool of party activists:

Ron Paul (374, 44.9%)
Rick Perry (244, 29.3%)
Mitt Romney (74, 8.8%)
Michele Bachmann (64, 7.7%)
Jon Huntsman (17, 2.0%)
Herman Cain (15, 1.8%)
Newt Gingrich (14, 1.7%)
Thad McCotter (7, 0.8%)
Rick Santorum (7, 0.8%)
Gary Johnson (2, 0.2%)
Fred Karger (1, 0.1%)
Write-ins (15, 1.8%)

As stated by Politico, the California Straw Poll isn’t exactly a title that will give a candidate a bounce, however, it will help them raise some money and show a little more support. Ron Paul hasn’t had issues raising money and will be racking probably over a million dollars by today’s end from his “Constitution Day money bomb” happening now.