Ted Cruz wins Alabama presidential straw poll conducted by Huntsville Republican Club
By Paul Gattis | pgattis@al.com The Huntsville Times
One of Alabama's largest Republican clubs conducted a straw poll on Saturday and the results indicated a close race between two candidates.
Ted Cruz narrowly edged Donald Trump in the straw poll at the monthly meeting of the Madison County Republican Men's Club in Huntsville.
Marco Rubio finished a distant third, just ahead of Ben Carson.
The straw poll included 200 ballots cast, perhaps providing a snapshot of how GOP voters are leaning with the March 1 primaries approaching.
In 2012, Rick Santorum won the February straw poll at the Madison County Republican Men's Club, then went on to win the Republican primary in Alabama a month later.
In 2008, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson won the January straw poll at the GOP club before Mike Huckabee won the Alabama GOP primary the next month.
The full results of the straw poll:
Ted Cruz – 29.5 percent (59 votes)
Donald Trump – 27 percent (54 votes)
Marco Rubio – 14.5 percent (29 votes)
Ben Carson – 11.5 percent (23 votes)
John Kasich – 8 percent (16 votes)
Jeb Bush – 5 percent (10 votes)
Uncommitted – 3.5 percent (7 votes)
Chris Christie – 0.5 percent (1 vote)
Carly Fiorina – 0.5 percent (1 vote)