Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee Claims Victory
AMES, Iowa – Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee claimed a victory with a second place finish in Saturday's Republican Party of Iowa Straw Poll, saying he has momentum heading into the next phase of the campaign.
Despite a clear financial disadvantage, Huckabee said he came in with a strong second place on account of several factors, including his experience as an executive leader, the strength of his message and his vision for the future.
"This caps off a great week here in Iowa . My goal in Iowa was to introduce myself to voters in the Hawkeye State and create enough momentum to send our campaign to New Hampshire and South Carolina . We've met, and exceeded, that goal with resources both in terms of money and staff," Huckabee said. "Tonight's results prove that our message of results-driven optimism resonates with real people; that our organization can put together a successful effort; and that Iowa is winnable for us. We over-performed by having more votes and tickets purchased and having no paid media, unlike other candidates."
Huckabee said he is especially proud of his strong showing because he spent far less money than the rest of the Republican field.
"We had a minimum amount of resources and made a maximum amount of gain," Huckabee said.
Huckabee added his gratitude to the men and women of Iowa for their participation in the straw poll, while looking forward to a return visit to the Hawkeye state.
"I have to tip my hat to the dedicated caucus-goers who put up with this heated frenzy and came out to vote," Huckabee said. "I am deeply grateful to all the families who invited me into their homes, met me in coffee shops and diners, shared their stories, and listened to my ideas on improving America .
"I am looking forward to returning to Iowa to work even harder to lift our campaign to victory by showing Americans there is a higher ground to be reached by bringing hope back to America with fairer taxes, a working health care system, energy self-reliance, and reinvestment in America 's future," he added.
WHAT THEY'RE REALLY SAYING ABOUT GOVERNOR ROMNEY WINNING THE IOWA REPUBLICAN STRAW POLL, VOL. 2
ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "A solid win for Mitt Romney. Is this a sign of things to come?" (ABC's "This Week," 8/12/07)
U.S. News & World Report's Michael Barone: "It's a plus for Mitt Romney." (Fox's "Fox News Sunday," 8/12/07)
Mason City Globe Gazette's Todd Dorman: "Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney strengthened his front-runner status in Iowa by winning the Ames straw poll Saturday – capping a super-sized event that mixed caucus politics with heaping plates of barbecue, inflated carnival rides and sticky summer heat." (Todd Dorman, "Romney's The Big Ames Straw Poll Winner," Mason City[IA] Globe Gazette, 8/12/07)
The Boston Globe's Lisa Wangsness: "Mitt Romney won the Republican straw poll here decisively last night, delivering 31.5 percent of votes cast and solidifying his position as the man to beat in Iowa, the state that holds the critical first-in-the- nation caucuses." (Lisa Wangsness, "Romney Trounces GOP Field In Iowa Straw Poll," The Boston Globe, 8/12/07)
The Associated Press' Mike Glover: "And [Governor Romney] needed to win. He needed to win substantially, and he did. And for the moment, I think the political community is giving him his due for the day. He needed to win. He won." (Fox's "Fox News Sunday," 8/12/07)
New York Post's Tom Liddy: "Looks like Mitt has caught fire in Iowa." (Tom Liddy, "Mitt Is Iowa's GOP Straw Man," New York Post, 8/12/07)
Liddy: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney threw down the gauntlet in front of his fellow Republicans yesterday with a victory in a high-profile 2008 White House straw poll." (Tom Liddy, "Mitt Is Iowa's GOP Straw Man," New York Post, 8/12/07)
Des Moines Register's Thomas Beaumont and Jonathan Roos: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney emerged on top at the Iowa Republican Party's straw poll Saturday in Ames..." (Thomas Beaumont and Jonathan Roos, "Romney's Straw Poll Drive Pays Off," Des Moines Register, 8/12/07)
Beaumont and Roos: "Ken Mehlman, the former White House political director who oversaw George W. Bush's winning straw poll performance in 1999, said Romney's margin exceeded Bush's winning margin eight years ago." (Thomas Beaumont and Jonathan Roos, "Romney's Straw Poll Drive Pays Off," Des Moines Register, 8/12/07)
Cedar Rapids Gazette's Rod Boshart and James Lynch: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney used a well-funded, well-oiled organization to score a hard-fought victory in Saturday's GOP straw poll that drew an estimated 33,000 revved-up Republicans to the Iowa State University campus." (Rod Boshart and James Q. Lynch, "Mitt Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll," Cedar Rapids[IA] Gazette, 8/12/07)
Boshart and Lynch: "Romney skated to victory with 4,516 votes, which was 31.5 percent of the 14,302 Iowans who cast ballots." (Rod Boshart and James Q. Lynch, "Mitt Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll," Cedar Rapids[IA] Gazette, 8/12/07)
Los Angeles Times' Michael Finnegan: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney handily won a Republican presidential straw poll here on Saturday …" (Michael Finnegan, "Romney Wins Big In Iowa's GOP Straw Poll," Los Angeles Times, 8/12/07)
Finnegan: "Still, the straw poll marked an important benchmark in the GOP race, underscoring Romney's strength in the state that will launch the party's 2008 nomination race with its precinct caucuses, now slated for early January." (Michael Finnegan, "Romney Wins Big In Iowa's GOP Straw Poll," Los Angeles Times, 8/12/07)
Finnegan: "For Romney, the straw poll at minimum demonstrated organizational might that could serve him well in the caucuses." (Michael Finnegan, "Romney Wins Big In Iowa's GOP Straw Poll," Los Angeles Times, 8/12/07)
Reuters'John Whitesides: "Romney matched the 31 percent of the vote won by then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in his 1999 straw poll victory on the road to the White House." (John Whitesides, "Romney Wins Iowa Republican Straw Poll," Reuters, 8/12/07)
The Politico's Jonathan Martin: "For Romney's camp, however, the victory represented the clearing of the first bar in the nominating contest. Powered by a multimillion-dollar investment in this kickoff caucus state, the former Massachusetts governor's 13 percentage point margin of victory bested the 10 percentage point win then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush enjoyed over Steve Forbes in the 1999 straw poll." (Jonathan Martin, "Romney Wins Big, Huckabee Second," The Politico, 8/12/07)
Real Clear Politics' Tom Bevan: "Romney's win yesterday solidifies his standing as the front runner in Iowa heading into the final five and half month stretch." (Tom Bevan, "The Ames Aftermath: Lots of Excitement, Little Change," Real Clear Politics, http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/, 8/12/07)
The Dallas Morning News'Todd Gillman: "A win in 1999 helped clear the field for President Bush. This time around, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was the favorite. He coasted to a win with 31.5 percent…" (Todd J. Gillman, "Iowa Straw Poll: A Carnival With Big Political Consequences," The Dallas Morning News, 8/12/07)
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Katherine Skiba: "Grabbing a commanding win in a watched-around-the-world Republican straw poll, Mitt Romney was rewarded by Iowans with an early victory Saturday in his run for the White House." (Katherine M. Skiba, "Romney Notches 1st Win In Iowa," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 8/12/07)
McClatchy's Steven Thomma: "The event appeared to confirm the status of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as a leader for his party's nomination …" (Steven Thomma, "Romney Takes Top Spot In Straw Poll," McClatchy Newspapers, 8/12/07)
What They're Really Saying About Governor Mitt Romney Winning The Iowa Republican Straw Poll
Fox News' Carl Cameron: "There's no doubt [Romney] leads the polls and he's won the Straw Poll, a stiff measure of organizational prowess in a state where getting people to come out in the Caucus is the name of the game. Getting them to the straw poll is what Mitt Romney did better than any other candidate on this day." (Fox News' "Live Event," 8/11/07)
Former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman: "Ken Mehlman, the former RNC chairman who ran George W. Bush's Iowa effort in 1999 and who is neutral in the presidential race, said Romney's victory was impressive. 'I think that the results show that he made a serious commitment and that it paid off,' Mehlman said." (Marc Ambinder, "Ames: The Romney Victory," The Atlantic, 8/11/07)
The New York Times' Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny: "Mitt Romney walked away with the first prize of the campaign. Mr. Romney, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, won with 32 percent of the vote cast, Republican officials said." (Adam Nagourney and Jeff Zeleny, "Romney Wins Iowa Straw Poll By A Sizable Margin," The New York Times, 8/11/07)
The Washington Post 's Chris Cillizza: "The biggest political event of the 2007 calendar year gave former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney a victory... Romney did what he needed to do at Ames -- WIN! ... A win is a win." (Chris Cillizza, "Analysis," The Washington Post's The Fix Blog, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/, Posted 8/11/07)
The Politico's Jonathan Martin: "Romney's 31.5% victory is almost exactly what then-Gov. Bush picked up at Ames in 1999, but Romney's margin over his nearest competitor was higher than what Bush won with. Romney bested Mike Huckabee by 13% while Bush defeated Steve Forbes by 10%." (Jonathan Martin, "Ames Results: Quick Notes," The Politico, 8/11/07)
The Washington Post's Dan Balz and Michael Shear: "With a convincing victory in the Republican straw poll here Saturday, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney vaulted himself into the next phase of a presidential nomination battle pitting his traditional early-state strategy against a more unorthodox approach by national front-runner Rudolph W. Giuliani." (Dan Balz and Michael D. Shear,
"Romney Victorious In Iowa Straw Poll," The Washington Post, 8/11/07)
ABC News' David Chalian: "Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney scored the first big voting victory in the battle for the GOP nomination at the non-binding Iowa Republican Party straw poll in Ames, Iowa on Saturday." (David Chalian,
"Romney Coasts to Iowa Straw Poll Win," ABCNews.com, 8/11/07)
Reuters' John Whitesides: "Republican Mitt Romney won the first test of strength in the 2008 White House race on Saturday, beating a field of lesser-known rivals in an informal straw poll in Iowa. ... The poll result, a Republican tradition in the state that leads off the nominating race for the November 2008 election, could begin to thin the herd of candidates and give at least temporary momentum to Romney." (John Whitesides, "Romney Wins Iowa Republican Straw Poll," Reuters, 8/11/07)
- Whitesides: "Romney, who leads opinion polls in Iowa and is one of the top fundraisers in the Republican field, showed his financial and organizational muscle during the poll." (John Whitesides, "Romney Wins Iowa Republican Straw Poll," Reuters, 8/11/07)
CNN's Mark Preston: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the Iowa Republican straw poll Saturday, giving his campaign a boost six months before the state holds its first-in-the-nation caucuses." (Mark Preston, "Romney Wins Early Vote," CNN's Political Ticker, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com, Posted 8/11/07)
Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva: "Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, as expected, has claimed the most support in the Iowa Republican Party's Straw Poll. ... For Romney, this represents the first victory, albeit symbolic, of a long primary campaign." (Mark Silva, "Romney Rides Straw Poll Win For A Campaign Launch," Chicago Tribune's The Swamp Blog, www.swamppolitics.com/, Posted 8/11/07)
Real Clear Politics' Reid Wilson: "For Romney, who occupied the same tent space George W. Bush did in 1999 and duplicated his results almost identically, the results were a vindication of the high expectations placed on his campaign." (Reid Wilson, "Iowa Dispatch: Instant Analysis," Real Clear Politics, http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/, Posted 8/11/07)
Los Angeles Times' Andrew Malcolm: "The straws are in and counted and Mitt Romney accomplished what he set out to do -- win the Ames Republican Straw Poll, the first real test of statewide organizational strength for GOP candidates heading for January's caucus in Iowa. ... Straw poll wins do not guarantee success in the ensuing winter's Republican caucus, but historically no one has won the caucus without competing at Ames the previous summer." (Andrew Malcolm, "Breaking News: Ames Straw Poll Results!" Los Angeles Times' Top Of The Ticket, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com, Posted, 8/11/07)
KCCI-TV, CBS Des Moines Political Analyst Dennis Goldford: "You can read about it and discuss it in the abstract, but actually seeing the impact of the Romney campaign's money, organization and attention to detail is just remarkable. They were a huge presence here today." (KCCI-TV Website, "Mitt Romney Wins Straw Poll," www.kcci.com/news/13872905/detail.html, Posted 8/11/07)
WFXT-TV, Fox Boston's Frank Mallicoat: "A landslide in Iowa today for former Bay State Governor Mitt Romney. Romney overwhelmingly winning the Iowa Republican Straw Poll today. The field of candidates now will start to shrink..." (WFXT-TV, "FOX 25 News At 10," 8/11/07)
Chicago Tribune's Rick Pearson And John McCormick: "Displaying the breadth and wealth of his campaign's organizing skills, Mitt Romney won Iowa's Republican presidential straw poll Saturday, giving him a needed bump to compete on the national stage while forcing others to consider whether to go forward." (Rick Pearson And John McCormick, "Romney Victorious In Straw Poll," Chicago Tribune, 8/11/07)
Bloomberg's Hans Nichols: "Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, won the Iowa straw poll, securing his status as the leading Republican in a state that has dashed the ambitions of many would-be presidents." (Hans Nichols, "Romney Wins, As Huckabee Takes Surprising Second In Iowa Poll," Bloomberg, 8/11/07)
The New York Times' Jeff Zeleny: "The outcome of the Republican Straw Poll was announced here tonight, with Mitt Romney easily claiming the first prize of the presidential campaign." (Jeff Zeleny, "Romney Wins Straw Poll," The New York Times' The Caucus Blog, Posted 8/11/07)
Brownback Pleased with Strong Showing in Ames
AMES, Iowa – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, Republican candidate for president, today spoke to supporters at the conclusion of the Ames Straw Poll.
"Today we leave Ames with a ticket to the Iowa caucuses," said Brownback. "Given that we were outspent by more than 10 to 1 and faced a multi-million dollar advertising blitz, we built a great foundation as we head into the caucuses."
The Brownback campaign received 2,192 votes and spent approximately $325,000 on the Straw Poll.
Governor Mitt Romney Wins The Iowa Republican Straw Poll
Ames, IA - Today, Governor Mitt Romney overwhelmingly won the Iowa Republican Straw Poll. With eleven names appearing on the conservative Straw Poll ballot, Governor Romney won with 31.5% percent (4,516 votes). With the announcement of today's results, Governor Romney issued the following statement:
"Today, the people of Iowa took the first step towards bringing change to Washington. This important victory sends a signal to grassroots Republican activists across the country that we are working hard to earn their support, and that we are ready to begin the work of strengthening our economy, our military and our families."
FAST FACTS About Governor Romney At The Iowa Republican Straw Poll:
- Total Number Of Votes: 4,516
- Percentage Of Vote: 31.5%
- Margin Of Victory: 13.4%
- Comparison To 1999 Results: 31.3% Bush Victory (10.5% Margin Of Victory)
- Comparison To 1995 Results: 24.36% Dole And Gramm Tied Victory
FAST FACTS About Governor Romney's Efforts In Iowa Since January 3, 2007:
- Number Of Iowa "Ask Mitt Anythings": 53
- Number Of Trips: 17
- Number Of Events: 310
- Number Of Days In State: 43
- Number Of Miles Traveled In State: 4,211.5
- Number Of Miles Traveled In The Mitt Mobile In Iowa: 4,684
