Ted Cruz wins presidential straw poll at conservative summit

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, won the presidential straw poll at this weekend’s Values Voter Summit, hosted by Family Research Council Action.

Cruz, a tea party favorite who has struggled to win the hearts of his establishment Republican colleagues, won 25 percent of the votes cast by FRC Action members who attended the event. Dr. Ben Carson, also a conservative favorite for his outspoken criticism of Obamacare, took 20 percent of the vote, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee taking 12 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum finished fourth, with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in a tie to round out the top five.

Carson won the vice-presidential poll, with 22 percent of the vote. Cruz took second with nearly 14 percent, and Jindal took third with nearly 11 percent.

The annual summit draws about 2,000 conservatives to the nation’s capitol to rally around key issues. Religious liberty took center stage at this year’s event, with Cruz calling for a new president who would make freedom a foreign policy priority.

“Oh, the vacuum of American leadership we see in the world,” he said. “We need a president who will speak out for people of faith, prisoners of conscience.”

Last year’s speakers honed in on social issues, but on Friday, FRC President Tony Perkins noted religious liberty undergirded every other item on the GOP platform.

“Without religious freedom, we lose the ability to even address those other issues,” he said.

While Saturday’s straw poll offers some insight into which way conservatives are leaning ahead of the 2016 presidential election, it’s not necessarily a bellwether for the rest of the country. Two more moderate Republicans thought to have a chance in the primaries, should they choose to run—New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush—were not invited to the event.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.