--- title: Rand Paul Tops Conservative Straw Poll description: Sen. Rand Paul finished again first among conservative activists for the 2016 presidential nomination in a straw poll at the three-day conference, with tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz coming in at a distant second canonical: https://time.com/17003/rand-paul-tops-conservative-straw-poll/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-08T23:21:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:39:48.987Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rand Paul Tops Conservative Straw Poll og:description: Sen. Rand Paul finished again first among conservative activists for the 2016 presidential nomination in a straw poll at the three-day conference, with tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz coming in at a distant second og:url: https://time.com/17003/rand-paul-tops-conservative-straw-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt640023ea8b2d2669/69868495d0b6f23fdc303220/29a5500.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Rand Paul CPAC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rand Paul Tops Conservative Straw Poll twitter:description: Sen. Rand Paul finished again first among conservative activists for the 2016 presidential nomination in a straw poll at the three-day conference, with tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz coming in at a distant second twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt640023ea8b2d2669/69868495d0b6f23fdc303220/29a5500.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rand Paul Tops Conservative Straw Poll > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5286a885-694f-42ef-afe3-628034ba61a7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Mar 8, 2014 11:21 PM UTC  Rand Paul supporters stand and cheer when the results of a straw poll show Rand Paul winning the GOP Presidential nomination during the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Rand Paul supporters stand and cheer when the results of a straw poll show Rand Paul winning the GOP Presidential nomination during the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. Lexey Swall—GRAIN for TIME by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Mar 8, 2014 11:21 PM UTC Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul repeated his first-place finish as the preference of conservative activists for the 2016 presidential nomination Saturday, finishing with 31 percent of the vote at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Paul drew a large crowd of supporters to the three-day conference and drew the largest and most enthusiastic crowds with his speech on Friday rallying against the National Security Agency. The straw poll has been a poor predictor of future success, even among the conservatives who vote in it. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another tea party favorite, placed a distant second among the 2,459 votes cast in the annual measure of conference attendees, with 11 percent of the vote. Former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Ben Carson placed third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was not invited to the conference last year, placed fourth with 8 percent. The results highlight the fractured state of the Republican Party, with potential tea party and libertarian candidates drawing the energy of the party’s grassroots. Sen. Marco Rubio, who drew intense flack from the base for his support for immigration reform, saw his support drop from 23 percent second-place finish last year to just 6 percent, for a seventh place finish. Rep. Paul Ryan, the 2012 vice presidential candidate, saw his support cut in half from 6 percent to 3 percent, as he is increasingly viewed as being part of the party’s establishment. For the first time, a majority of conference attendees, 51 percent, disapproved of the way Republicans in Congress are handling their jobs. After his victory, Paul tweeted his thanks to his supporters: > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/442435377887191040) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/17003/rand-paul-tops-conservative-straw-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/17003/rand-paul-tops-conservative-straw-poll/"},"headline":"Rand Paul Tops Conservative Straw Poll","datePublished":"2014-03-08T23:21:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:39:48.987Z","description":"Sen. Rand Paul finished again first among conservative activists for the 2016 presidential nomination in a straw poll at the three-day conference, with tea party favorite Sen. Ted Cruz coming in at a distant second","url":"https://time.com/17003/rand-paul-tops-conservative-straw-poll/","keywords":["Election 2016","republicans","Chris Christie","Bobby Jindal","Sen. 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