Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll; Paul Takes Second
Michele Bachmann came out on top in Saturday's Iowa Straw Poll with 29 percent of the vote, securing a frontrunner status in the GOP presidential race.
Ron Paul (R-Texas) came in a close second while former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty rounded out the top three.
Nearly 17,000 votes were cast.
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Since voting in Ames, Iowa, began at 10 a.m. CT, the Bachmann tent saw a long line of supporters throughout the entire day. One supporter with the Twitter username "PardonMyFrench" tweeted: "@TeamBachmann lines are still enormously long. The dedication of her supporters in truly awe inspiring" and "These lines are longer than Springsteen."
The Iowa Straw Poll is an election with non-binding results. It is used to gauge opinion on a candidate before any official votes are cast. The poll has served as an early indicator of the level of excitement a candidate is able to generate.
Earlier on Saturday, Bachmann – who is from Waterloo, Iowa – identified with Iowans and said "we will never be ashamed of being social conservatives."
The Minnesota congresswoman stressed her Christian faith and her opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
She also took aim at President Obama, repeating her well-known statement that he will be "a one-term president."
"This is where Barack Obama got his start, and this is where he’s going to come to his end – in Iowa," Bachmann said Friday. "Did you get the change and the hope you believed in?”
The results of the straw poll come just after Texas Governor Rick Perry officially announced his presidential bid in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday.
"We will not sit back and accept our current misery … because a great country requires a better direction … because a renewed nation requires a new president," he said.
Mitt Romney won the Iowa straw poll in 2007. He did not go on to win the state caucuses.
