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Caffeinated Thoughts completed a non-scientific poll of our readership from May 1-8, 2015. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) leads overall being first choice for just shy of 37% of those polled. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) leads among Iowan readers with almost 29% saying he is their first choice. Our overall results (1st Choice): 1. U.S. Senator Rand Paul – 36.8% 2. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz – 19.6% 3. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum – 11.2% 4. Former Texas Governor Rick Perry – 8.0% 5. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal – 5.2% 6. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio – 4.0% 7. Former...

(POLL DETAILS AT LINK)

Who would you vote for if the 2016 Presidential Election were held today? Ahh … its time for another Presidential election already, and voters are either passionate or apathetic once again! To date, three candidates have entered the Presidential race: Hillary Clinton, Rand Paul, and Ted Cruz. If the election were held today, who would YOU vote for? To help, here’s some campaign videos of today’s limited trio. The name are listed in alphabetical order. But if you’re a conspiracy theorist, its because we secretly support Hillary Clinton and though that was an excuse. Or … if your a conspiracy...

One of the U.S. Senate’s most outspoken conservative leaders, Sen. Ted Cruz, officially confirmed today for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) in Oklahoma City in May. Cruz is the ninth national leader and 2016 presidential candidate to confirm for the conference behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Dr. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Donald Trump and Ambassador John Bolton. OKGOP Chairman Dave Weston noted, "Sen. Cruz’s recent announcement for president has created quite a buzz among Republican voters. We’re excited he’ll be joining us for the SRLC, as...

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky won the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll Saturday, his third victory in as many years. This year he carried 26 percent of the vote. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz placed third, with 11.5 percent, while former Gov. Rick Perry came in eleventh, with 1.1 percent. Both Paul and Cruz openly campaigned at the event. Cruz volunteers distributed custom-made buttons that said "Cruz Crew." Perry had a smaller get-out-the-vote operation at the conference. The contest comes after three days of speeches from presidential contenders and noteworthy conservative activists. On Thursday, Cruz touted his battles within...

The Republican Party of Iowa has gotten bids from four different sites in central Iowa competing to be the host of the Iowa GOP’s Straw Poll this summer. Jeff Kaufmann, the Iowa GOP’s chairman, says the second Saturday in August is the likely date for the event. “That’s one part of the tradition we’d like to keep in terms of having it in August, so August 8 is still our target date,” Kaufmann told Radio Iowa today. “…I can’t say absolutely that if there was once heck of a deal and a great site and they absolutely couldn’t do it...

YOUR VOTE FOR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has said it many times recently. But each time he says it, he likely makes it more apparent the Republican Party of Iowa has held its final Straw Poll. “We’ve had discussions,” Branstad said Monday morning of his talks with top party leaders about what could replace the straw poll in 2015. Branstad several times said it will be up to his party’s state central committee to make the final decision on whether to end the straw poll, a much-watched event his party has held since 1979. The party holds the straw poll in August in...

DES MOINES — Gov. Terry Branstad says he would support a statewide Republican fundraising event in Ames next summer where GOP presidential hopefuls are invited to speak as long as no vote is taken as had been the practice during past straw polls that have been the focus of controversy. Branstad added that he did not want to see Iowa face possible sanctions that could cost delegates to the 2016 Republican national convention for conducting a poll in advance of the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses that could run afoul of new party rules. “I’m willing to agree to a statewide meeting...

In the straw poll at the annual Values Voters Summit for right-wing Republicans, Democrats actually did well. In fact, some Democrats did better than some of the leading… Wait, what? Yup. You heard me right. Vice President Joe Biden, Gov. Chris Christie, and 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton finished in a three-way tie. Behind them? New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin. The GOP has such awful candidates that even their own most ardent supporters aren’t believers in half of their candidates including Chris Christie who is in the midst of an extended PR campaign stumping...

BANGOR, Maine – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Saturday won an unofficial straw poll to be the 2016 GOP presidential nominee at the Penobscot County Republican caucus at Husson University. Administered by the Maine Republican Liberty Caucus, caucus attendees paid $1 for a ballot that listed 20 potential GOP presidential candidates’ names plus room for write-ins, according to Maine RLC State Chair Vic Berardelli. Balloters were asked to mark their first, second and third choice. Points were weighted at five points for a first place vote, three points for second and one point for a third place vote....

On Monday, Dr. Greg Brannon, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, handily won a key straw poll in the U.S. Senate primary at a candidate forum held in Guilford County, a county which has the third largest number of registered Republicans in the state. The Senate candidate forum, hosted by Conservatives for Guilford County, was attended by nearly 300 interested voters and conservative activists who were eager to hear from the candidates. With five candidates in the race for the Republican nomination, Brannon won more than two-thirds of the votes cast, beating his nearest challenger by a four to one margin....

Sen. Rand Paul decisively won a straw poll held over the weekend in Michigan at a bi-annual gathering of Republicans, earning more than double the votes of rival New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican from Kentucky, won 188 votes, or 36 percent, in the 2016 Mackinac Presidential Straw Poll. Christie came in at second with 82 votes, or 16 percent, in the poll. “It’s always exciting to place first in anything,” Paul told The Daily Caller in a phone interview Sunday morning from Mackinac Island after the results were announced.

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the days since Republicans lost an election many in the party thought was theirs, chatter has been bubbling about what the GOP should do to recover. For Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, it starts with the smallest of actions: abandoning the state's now-infamous straw poll. Once a festive checkpoint on the road to the leadoff Iowa caucuses, the poll has devolved into a full-blown sideshow, Branstad and other critics contend. They say it's an unfair and false test that has felled good candidates and kept others from competing in the state. "It's just something that's gotten...

Newt Gingrich might have dropped to third in Iowa — and he and Romney might be neck-and-neck in the latest CNN poll, but, among thousands of Tea Party activists from across the country, Gingrich retains a clear lead. Tea Party Patriots — the nation’s largest Tea Party organization — last night hosted a Presidential Tele Forum with Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. (The other candidates were invited to participate, but declined because of scheduling conflicts, said Jenny Beth Martin, the co-founder and national coordinator of Tea Party Patriots.) Each candidate had 10 minutes to respond to...

The current national Republican favorite has won in the Delaware Republican Party's 2012 Presidential Straw Poll. State GOP Chairman John Sigler tells WDEL News it was a squeaker. (AUDIO AT LINK) Michelle Bachmann and Jon Huntsman tied with 2 percent each, Gary Johnson tallied 1 percent, and there was a write-in vote for Sarah Palin. Sigler says it's too early to tell which candidate will win the nomination, because each candidate seems to "peak" at various times, and there may not be a clear-cut front-runner before the April 24th primary.

Many tweets went on record Monday night: derrickroach Breaking: Ron Paul wins San Diego GOP straw poll! Ron Paul 112, Newt Gingrich 83, Mitt Romney 64, Hermain Cain 59, Rick Perry 21...

Results of the Straw Poll – 115 ballots returned: Ron Paul 44 – 38.26% Newt Gingrich 33 – 28.70% Herman Cain 15 – 13.04% Rick Santorum 9 – 7.83% Rick Perry 5 – 4.35% Mitt Romney 4 – 3.48% Michele Bachmann 2 – 1.74% Other 2 – 1.74% Jon Huntsman 1 – 0.87%

PALATINE, Ill.— Illinois residents cast ballots Saturday in a statewide straw poll that sought to determine their unofficial preference for the Republican presidential nomination.Online voting started Oct. 29 and paper balloting was to go on throughout the day Saturday at about two dozen sites across Illinois. By Saturday morning 2,400 online ballots were filed, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Brady said.

Let's just get it out of the way and all recite the mantra at once, shall we?Straw polls don't mean anything.But for those who still like to follow them, we had yet another this weekend in Minnesota at the Midwestern Leadership Conference. And once again Herman Cain mopped up the competition, this time registering the largest margin of victory yet, bringing home more than half the votes. Former GodfatherÂ’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain rounded out a very good week with a straw poll victory at the Midwest Leadership Conference in Minnesota on Saturday.Cain pulled off a decisive win, garnering 52.6...