Early straws blow toward Carson, Sanders
COEUR d'ALENE - It's Ben and Bernie in Kootenai County at the moment.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson topped a straw poll conducted by the Kootenai County Reagan Republicans at the North Idaho Fair.
The Republican group gave more than 500 voters the opportunity to choose their top three choices for president. Polling took place Aug. 26 through Aug. 30.
Carson was the first choice of 28.8 percent of the voters, while Donald Trump was the top choice of 27.5 percent.
Carson received 135 top choice votes and Trump got 129.
"Trump has kind of peaked, and Carson is kind of the guy at the moment," Jeff Ward, president of the Reagan Republicans, said Thursday.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was third with 16 percent, and 75 top-choice votes. Ward said Cruz is his favorite.
"He's the most Reaganesque of the candidates in terms of philosophy," Ward said.
All the other candidates received less than 7 percent each.
Despite a campaign swing through Spokane and Coeur d'Alene that week, with support from Idaho Congressman Raul Labrador, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul placed sixth with 4.7 percent of the first-choice votes.
Ward said that Carson and Cruz racked up more second- and third-choice votes than Trump. Former business executive Carly Fiorina also racked up a lot of second- and third-choice votes.
Ward said Trump's lower count of second and third votes doesn't bode well going forward in the campaign.
"He hit his max," Ward said. "I don't see him picking up a lot more" voters.
The Republican presidential primary in Idaho is scheduled for March 8.
This was the second straw poll conducted by the Reagan Republicans at the fair. The group's first was in August 2011, leading to the 2012 presidential election.
In 2011, the voters only selected one candidate. At that time, Rick Perry, the now former Texas governor, was the choice of 25 percent of voters.
Ron Paul got 11.2 percent and Sarah Palin got 10.1 percent. Palin ended up not seeking the 2012 Republican nomination for president.
Democrats
The Kootenai County Democrats conducted a straw poll at the fair, too.
Approximately 250 fair attendees participated, with no restrictions on political party affiliation.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, got 59 percent of the vote, while Hillary Clinton received 32 percent.
The Democratic presidential caucus is scheduled for March 22.
"There's some real grassroots support for Bernie Sanders," Paula Neils, chair of the Kootenai County Democrats, said Thursday. "I think it's the economic policies that he's promoting."