August 9, 2007

Straw Poll: Clinton edges Edwards, Romney over F. Thompson

Straw Poll in the NCSL Bookstore BOSTON - Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney would be their party's nominees if attendees of the National Conference of State Legislatures' 2007 Legislative Summit had their way, according to the results of a straw poll conducted this week.

More than 9,000 state legislators, legislative staff, policy experts and private sector representatives gathered here to discuss the most pressing policy issues facing states. The straw poll was conducted throughout the day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Straw poll participants chose to vote for either a Democratic or Republican presidential nominee.

Democratic Presidential Straw Poll Results

CANDIDATE	VOTE PERCENTAGE
Hillary Clinton	30.92
John Edwards	25.72
Barack Obama	20.23
Bill Richardson	10.40
Joe Biden	6.65
Chris Dodd	2.60
Dennis Kucinich	2.02
Al Gore (Write-in candidate)	1.17

Republican Presidential Straw Poll Results

CANDIDATE	VOTE PERCENTAGE
Mitt Romney	35.85
Fred Thompson	22.63
Rudy Guiliani	15.72
Mike Huckabee	8.18
John McCain	8.18
Ron Paul	3.14
Sam Brownback	2.52
Tommy Thompson	1.26
Newt Gingrich (Write-in candidate)	1.26
Duncan Hunter	0.63
Tom Tancredo	0.63

More than 500 people participated in the straw poll. Participants were also asked about the greatest threat to representative democracy. Overwhelmingly (42 percent), straw poll voters said that public cynicism is the single biggest threat to representative democracy. Money in politics was also a concern (24 percent).

NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.

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Contacts

Bill Wyatt
Director of Media Relations
Washington, D.C.
202-624-8667

Nicole Casal Moore
Public Affairs Manager
Denver
303-364-7700

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