OXON HILL, Md. — Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, won a presidential straw poll at a prominent conservative conference here on Saturday, capturing 31 percent of the vote among no fewer than 10 potential candidates.

The straw poll, conducted at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, is hardly predictive of future presidential success. Indeed, Mr. Paul’s father, former Representative Ron Paul of Texas, won the poll in 2010 and 2011 but never came close to winning his party’s nomination.

But the win by the younger Mr. Paul, a first-term senator, reflected the enthusiastic reception he has received at the three-day conference. When Mr. Paul took the stage on Friday, a capacity audience filled with college-age Republicans, many of them wearing “Stand With Rand” lapel stickers, repeatedly rose to their feet as he made the case for his brand of libertarian-infused conservatism.

Among the senator’s targets were the National Security Agency’s data collection practices and the expanded use of armed drones under President Obama.