Rand Paul wins straw poll, Scott Walker places 2nd

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has won the Conservative Political Action Conference's annual presidential preference straw poll. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker placed second.

Pollsters announced on Feb. 28 that Paul won 25.7 percent of the votes in the annual right-wing survey, giving Paul his third consecutive win in as many years.

Walker came in second, with 21.4 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz came in third in the contest with 11.5 percent, followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 11.4 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with 8.3 percent. All of the other names listed received under 5 percent.

The three-day CPAC conference in suburban Washington is nonetheless seen as a barometer of certain conservative activists' early leanings.

Pollsters said just over 3,000 attendees voted. Nearly half identified as between the ages of 18 and 25.

Respondents said economic issues, like jobs and taxes, were most important to them in deciding whom to support as the Republican nominee for president in 2016.