MACKINAC ISLAND (WKZO) — The five top finishers in this weekend’s straw poll at the Michigan GOP Leadership Conference on Mackinac Island are the five who actually showed up.
That was probably to be suspected as the 2000 Republican movers and shakers actually got a chance to hear from the five.
Originally six candidates notified organizers that they would be attending the weekend event but Scott Walker was a no-show, his staff claiming weather problems grounded his charter flight.
Some party members suspect it was low finances that may have grounded Wisconsin’s Governor, as word has gotten out that Walker waited too long to get into the races and his campaign waited too long to start raising donations.
The MIRS/Detroit News straw poll of 785 attendees ranked Rand Paul first with 22%, Carly Fiorina second with 15%, John Kasich third with 14% and Ted Cruz fourth with 13%. They all spoke on Saturday. Jeb Bush, who put in an early appearance Friday finished 5th with 10%.
The rest of the field followed in this order, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Scott Walker each finished in single digits. Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Chris Christie, Rick Santorium, Lindsay Graham, Jim Gilmore, and George Pataki all finished with a fraction of one percent support.
Statewide Polls show Ben Carson and Donald Trump leading with the public.
