If the next president was picked by attendees at the Values Voter Summit, it would be U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. Again.

Cruz won the Values Voter Summit Straw Poll for the third year in a row, collecting 35 percent of votes cast by attendees of the Summit. Ben Carson finished second with 18 percent and Mike Huckabee finished third, winning 14 percent.

Values Voter, held annually in Washington, D.C., is winding down from its weekend of prominent main-stage speakers, breakout sessions, and ticketed luncheons and breakfasts.

A gala dinner Saturday night caps the weekend of activities and events. Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell is the honoree at the dinner, where he will be given the Vision and Leadership Award.

Family Research Council is the lead sponsor of the annual Summit, which is held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in downtown D.C.

Adams Cathie Adams is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas and now serves as president of Texas Eagle Forum. She believes the Values Voter straw poll shows that at some point voters are going to go beyond just the fear and anger at Barack Obama. "I think times are coming when people are going to take a more serious look and we are going to have candidates who are going to be required to voice substance over just a trite kind of response," Adams tells OneNewsNow. She says she understands why VVS attendees booed Donald Trump when he referred to Senator Marco Rubio as a "clown." "I think that it is going to be a time certain when people are going to say [they're] not going to accept the response from a candidate that is just criticizing someone else – and I think that's where Mr. Trump comes up short." - Chad Groening (OneNewsNow)

The current frontrunner in the GOP primary, Donald Trump, finished fifth in the Straw Poll behind Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Trump had called a “clown” in his comments from the main stage Friday.

Trump was booed loudly for his comment, which FRC President Tony Perkins alluded to at a Saturday press conference in which he announced the Straw Poll results. Trump was “reprimanded” by Summit attendees for his comments, he told reporters.

Asked by reporters about Cruz’s win, Perkins said it’s clear from the Straw Poll, and national polls, that there is “total discontent” with the “political class” in Washington, D.C. Support for rival candidates Trump, Carson and Fiorina – all outsiders in D.C. - mirror that frustration, too, the FRC president said.

Reporters peppered Perkins about Trump, who had turned down an invitation to Values Voter but made a last-minute plan to address the socially conservative gathering. Trump deserves credit for coming, Perkins said, and hopefully his presence will start a “conversation” with social conservatives.

Social conservatives, Perkins told reporters, are “more complicated and savvy than the media gives them credit.”

Summit attendees also selected their pick for vice presidential nominee, choosing Carson, Fiorina and Cruz respectively in the top three slots. Rubio and Huckabee rounded out the top five. Trump finished in eighth place.

Summit attendees also selected their main concerns during the Straw Poll tally. They ranked religious freedom, pro-life issues, and protecting natural marriage as their main concerns respectively.

Values Voter will conclude Sunday morning with a worship service before it adjourns.