By Dan King
The Washington County Fair met politics last week, as 737 people came out to vote in a presidential straw poll.
Results of the poll, conducted at the Washington County Tea Party Patriots’ table, were similar to most of the recent national polls and those being conducted in early caucus states such as New Hampshire and Iowa.
“It initiated a very good discussion about what is going on in American politics,” said George Demas, a member of the Washington County Tea Party Patriots. “The trend is we tend to draw more Republicans to the booth, because it is a more Republican county, but we got a pretty good mix.”
Of the votes cast, 232 or 31.5-percent chose Republican frontrunner and business mogul Donald Trump, who also finds himself atop most national polls.
Dana Haff, a member of the Washington County Tea Party Patriots, was manning the table at one point and said that Trump supporters were coming out in droves. One Trump voter told Haff, “I don’t like everything he is saying but at least he is saying.”
In second place, the only other candidate to reach triple digits with 112, or 15.2-percent, was Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who describes himself as part of the Tea Party movement.
In third place was former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who received 90 votes or 12-percent. Carson, a Republican, has seen his numbers jump in many national polls of late.
An Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus poll conducted Sunday had Trump, Carson and Cruz in the top three positions for the Republican nomination, nearly identical to the county poll.
In the Washington County poll, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent and self-described socialist who is running for the Democratic nomination, came in fourth. Sanders received 78 votes or 10.6-percent.
“I’d like to see it Trump against Bernie, because they are the only two telling the truth,” said a Sanders voter.
Haff said the county’s proximity to Vermont perhaps played a role in the number for Sanders.
“Since Bernie (Sanders) got about twice what Hillary (Clinton, former secretary of state) got, which bucks the national trend, I think the only explanation is the number of Vermonters at the fair,” Haff said.
Fifth was Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who like Cruz has roots in the Tea Party movement. Rubio received 58 votes or 7.9-percent.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, another Republican, came in sixth with 38 votes or 5.2-percent.
Seventh was former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who received 34 votes or 4.6-percent. Fiorina is also running for the Republican nomination.
In a tie for eighth were Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Democratic Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Paul and Clinton each received 31 votes or 4-percent.
Rounding out the top ten was Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has seen his numbers go up drastically since the first televised Republican debate. Kasich received 25 votes or 3.4-percent.
Only two other candidates received double digit votes. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush received 22 votes and former New York Gov. George Pataki received 10 votes. Both Bush and Pataki are Republicans.
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, both Republicans, each received nine votes.
Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got eight votes, while two votes each went to Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Democrats Martin O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland and Jim Webb, former Senator from Virginia.
Former Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who is running as a Democrat, each got one vote.
Jim Gilmore, the former Republican governor of Virginia, and Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, were the only two candidates listed on the ballot to not receive a vote.
Third-party candidates, such as the Green Party’s Jill Stein, and candidates who have not officially declared, such as Vice President Joe Biden and 2012 Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, were not included in the poll, but there was a write-in option. No write-in votes were submitted.
The other two political tables at the fair, the Democratic Party and Republican Party, did not conduct straw polls.
Demas said this was the first time the group had conducted a straw poll in its five fair appearances and said he was really impressed with the turnout.
“Most people don’t want to be political when they go to the fair, so 737 is a really good turnout for the straw poll,” Demas said.