AMES, Iowa, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Saturday won the Iowa Straw Poll, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee finished second.
The event appeared to have voting machine problems when organizers announced the results would be delayed.
“I’ve heard machine difficulties. I haven’t heard specifically what the difficulty is,” Mary Tiffany, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Republican Party, told The Des Moines Register. She said about 1,500 votes needed to be recounted.
When the results were released, Romney had 4,516 votes to 2,587 for Huckabee and 2,192 for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
The poll is a combination Republican fundraiser and a chance for presidential hopefuls to break out of the crowded pack. Eight candidates for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination were in Ames, although former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and an unannounced candidate -- former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. -- stayed away.
At least one candidate, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, said he would drop out of the race if he did not come in first or second in the poll.
Romney made a huge effort for the straw poll, while Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a libertarian, had an army of enthusiastic volunteers working the event to keep his name in front of people.
