Political Beat

Carson wins local straw poll

In another example of how the Clark County Republican party chooses not to align itself to the larger GOP, Donald Trump came in last in the local party’s straw poll.

Ben Carson, also considered a political outsider, won the poll.

The local methodology used is considerably different from most polls (and Trump is still popular within the local party), but Clark County Republican Party’s straw poll’s clear winner was Carson.

The Donald came in last with negative points.

A recent NBC News Online showed Trump leading in the polls out of GOP candidates that Republican primary voters would vote for if the primary was held right now.

More than 500 people participated in the local Republican straw poll, held at the Clark County Fair.

Participants were asked to choose their top three candidates and their least favorite candidates. Three points were given to the first choice, two points for the second and one point for the third choice. Negative three points were doled out for the least favorite choice.

Trump walked away with negative 133 points, although, a good number of people, 95, marked him as their first choice; the 167 who said he was their least favorite candidate ruined his shot at winning.

Carson, a former neurosurgeon from Detroit, recently made headlines when he dismissed the idea the of a GOP “war on women,” saying instead the war is on “what’s inside women.”

“There is no war on women — there may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country,” he continued, referring to abortion, according to the Hill.

Carson also won two previous Clark County Republican party straw polls, according to their website.

You can see all the results by visiting the Clark County Republican Party’s website.

Lauren Dake

Lauren Dake

Lauren Dake covers politics for The Columbian. You can reach her at 360-735-4534 or lauren.dake@columbian.com. Follow her on Twitter .

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