Ted Cruz won a decisive victory, garnering 90 of the 283 votes during a straw poll at the Minnesota GOP State Central Committee meeting on Dec. 5 in Monticello.
Keith Downey, the State GOP chairman, was of the opinion that the vote was an indication of which candidates were likely to perform well, and deserved a watch as the elections drew near. Minnesota is scheduled to hold a primary or caucus on Super Tuesday, March 1, reports AM1240 WJON.
Cruz got 31.8 percent of the votes, with Marco Rubio following with 16.3 percent, or 46 votes. Carly Fiorina came in third with 11.7 percent and Donald Trump got 10.2 percent of the votes, according to WDAZ8.
"Anybody but Hillary," said Bob Maginnis, a delegate from Edina, who is of the opinion that "any of the Republican nominees would have a very good shot at beating Hillary Rodham Clinton," reports TwinCities.com.
That Cruz was "the only one who has the courage to stand up to the establishment and fight for our constitution and our liberty" was the feeling of delegate Nancy Spaengler of Wyoming, Minn., according to TwinCities.com.
The Democrats of Minnesota are scheduled to hold their caucus on March 1, the same day as the presidential caucus. Presently, the Democratic presidential candidates are Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley.
