Allen, Thompson & Van Hollen Favored in WisPolitics GOP Convo Straw Poll

Wispolitics.com ^ | May 20, 2006 | JR Ross

[Diana in Wisconsin]

APPLETON, WI – GOP activists voting in the annual WisPolitics.com Straw Poll this weekend favored JB Van Hollen for attorney general, Tommy Thompson for U.S. Senate and George Allen for president.

Van Hollen and Thompson were heavily favored by official convention attendees as the picks to represent Republicans on the November ballot, while Allen, with 61 votes, narrowly edged Rudy Giuliani (60), Newt Gingrich (53) and Condi Rice (50) as the current choice for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008.

Last year in Sheboygan, Secretary of State Rice won the presidential preference straw poll. And gubernatorial candidate Mark Green, lieutenant governor candidate Jean Hundertmark and Van Hollen won the WisPolitics.com straw poll of GOP activists at that Wisconsin Republican Party convention. In that straw poll, 322 total ballots were cast.

In this year's WisPolitics straw poll at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention in Appleton, 357 total ballots were cast by official convention attendees despite state Republican Party efforts to curtail voting by activists in the straw poll.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin and attorney general candidates Paul Bucher and Van Hollen, in a letter to WisPolitics earlier in the week, requested that an AG question be excluded from the WisPolitics straw poll because of an agreement between the competing attorney general campaigns to discourage straw polls and a convention endorsement vote. The letter was distributed to convention-goers. WisPolitics.com declined the request.

But Bucher and Van Hollen, and representatives of their campaigns, ended up voting in the WisPolitics straw poll this weekend, though it was not clear if they answered the question about AG preference. In all, 41 respondents out of 357 total ballots left that question blank. Bucher is the Waukesha County district attorney; Van Hollen is a former district attorney and U.S. attorney. In November, one of them will meet the winner of the Democratic AG primary between incumbent Peg Lautenschlager and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk.

WisPolitics, since it launched in 2000, has conducted straw polls at state Republican and Democratic party convention and considers them but one measure of a candidate's popularity and viability.

Paper balloting was conducted Friday and Saturday at this year's convention, and only official attendees of the convention were allowed to vote.

2006 STRAW POLL QUESTIONS, RESULTS 357 total ballots cast

**Who is your choice in the GOP primary for attorney general? _ Paul Bucher, 88 votes _ JB Van Hollen, 228 votes No response, 41

**Who is your choice to run against Herb Kohl for the U.S. Senate? _ Marc Gumz, 3 _ Robert Gerald Lorge, 20 _ Tim Michels, 76 _ Dave Redick, 2 _ Tommy Thompson, 241 _ Write In, 6 No response, 9

**Which possible 2008 presidential candidate do you currently favor? _ George Allen, 61 _ Sam Brownback, 11 _ Bill Frist, 8 _ Newt Gingrich, 53 _ Rudy Giuliani, 60 _ Chuck Hagel, 1 _ Mike Huckabee, 2 _ John McCain, 37 _ George Pataki, 4 _ Condi Rice, 50 _ Mitt Romney, 40 _ Tom Tancredo, 8 _ Write In, 7 No response, 15

For more on the straw poll and the 2006 state GOP convention, go to the WisPolitics.com GOP Convention Blog at http://www.wispolitics.com

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for RepHope for bringing this to my attention. I was out of town today. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Wisconsin Conservative Politics Ping List FYI Ping! :)

[rzeznikj at stout]

Sounds about right...

Though I'm undecided about the AG's race. Both appear to be excellent candidates and would be infinitely better than Aunt Keg...

[Ligeia]

Watch Senator Allen on Hannity & Colmes

[uscabjd]

Might Thompson run for the Senate?

[MassachusettsGOP]

"George Allen, 61 _ Sam Brownback, 11 _ Bill Frist, 8 _ Newt Gingrich, 53 _ Rudy Giuliani, 60 _ Chuck Hagel, 1 _ Mike Huckabee, 2 _ John McCain, 37 _ George Pataki, 4 _ Condi Rice, 50 _ Mitt Romney, 40 _ Tom Tancredo, 8 _ Write In, 7 No response, 15 "

That comes out to:
Conservatives (Allen, Brownback, Gingrich, Huckabee, Tancredo):
135 or 37.8%

Party Center (Frist, Rice, Romney):
98 or 27.5%

RINO Moderates (Giuliani, Hagel, McCain, Pataki):
102 or 28.6%

Other (Write In, None): 22 or 6.2%


Good Sign for Conservatives??

[9999lakes]

1 La Crosse vote for Newt.

[9999lakes]

Senator Thompson has a really nice ring.

[MassachusettsGOP]

1 Lowell, Massachusetts Vote for Newt

(Im with ya)

[Rick_Michael]

ping for later

[Watery Tart]

**Which possible 2008 presidential candidate do you currently favor? _ George Allen, 61 _ Sam Brownback, 11 _ Bill Frist, 8 _ Newt Gingrich, 53 _ Rudy Giuliani, 60 _ Chuck Hagel, 1 _ Mike Huckabee, 2 _ John McCain, 37 _ George Pataki, 4 _ Condi Rice, 50 _ Mitt Romney, 40 _ Tom Tancredo, 8 _ Write In, 7 No response, 15

They should have limited this vote to Republican candidates only.
</snarckycomment>

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"They should have limited this vote to Republican candidates only."

I agree. I'll see your *Snark* and raise you a "Snort* Why bother on straw poll voting for RINOs? ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We're all holding our breath here and waiting. I thought he'd say something this past weekend, but I guess he didn't want to steal Mark Green's thunder at the GOP Convention this past weekend (which for Tommy took a helluvalot of self-control...or a very strong handler, LOL!)