The Idaho Republican Party held its annual Winter Meeting over the weekend and held a presidential candidate reception and straw poll as part of the festivities.
It was great news for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who received 40 percent of the vote, followed by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at 18 percent. Donald Trump came in third at 13 percent, while Ben Carson and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) received 11 and 8 percent, respectively.
No other candidate received more than 3 percent in the Friday evening straw poll vote.
The next morning, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Idaho released the results of a poll conducted among its full statewide membership. And, once again, Cruz won with 48 percent, followed by Rand Paul finished with 30 percent, and Donald Trump at 20 percent.
“I would like to thank Republicans in Idaho for their vote of confidence and support in this weekend’s Idaho GOP straw poll, as well as the poll among members of the Republican Liberty Caucus in Idaho,” Cruz said Monday. “We have a growing, grassroots team of courageous conservatives in Idaho, led by our chairman, Treasurer Ron Crane, and our state director, Norm Semanko, and these two votes demonstrate that Idahoans are coalescing around our campaign.”
Idaho voters will make their presidential picks on March 8.
