Rand Paul wins Mackinac straw poll

Paul Egan | Detroit Free Press

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — For the second time in two years, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has won the presidential straw poll at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, according to results released late Saturday.

But California businesswoman Carly Fiorina, buoyed from the momentum of what was seen as a strong debate performance Wednesday, finished second.

Paul received 22% support in the poll of more than 2,200 conference attendees, according to the poll conducted by the Lansing political newsletter MIRS and The Detroit News.

Paul, the only presidential candidate to attend the conference both this year and when it was last held in 2013, also won the 2013 straw poll.

With 785 ballots counted, Paul was first with 22% and Fiorina was second with 15%.

Ohio Gov John Kasich was third with 14% and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished fourth with 13%, according to the released results.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had 9.7%; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio had 8.4%, New York businessman Donald Trump had 6.8%; neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson had 5.5% and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker had 2.6%.

Other candidates receiving votes had less than 1%.

Paul, Fiorina, Kasich, Cruz and Bush were the five candidates who spoke at the conference, which ends Sunday.

John Yob, a Grand Rapids consultant who serves as Paul's national political director, said the Mackinac straw poll has historically been a strong indicator of which candidate wins Michigan.

Though officials with other campaigns complained the Paul campaign made a concerted effort to bring people to the island to resister for the conference so they could vote in the straw poll, Yob said other campaigns spent considerable amounts trying to improve their own performances in the poll.

"That's what organizational contests are all about," and "Rand Paul is going to over-perform in organizational contests around the country."