Ron Paul got a great birthday present Saturday, as the 76-year-old defeated 11 other Republicans in Saturday's New Hampshire Young Republicans Straw Poll.
Paul, a congressman from Texas, won a commanding 45 percent of the vote and bested runner-up Mitt Romney by 35 percent despite not attending the event, which was held in New Castle and also included a lobster bake.
There were 302 ballots cast Saturday. Here are the full results:
Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
- Ron Paul, 45 percent
- Mitt Romney, 10
- Rick Perry, 8
- Thaddeus McCotter, 8
- Gary Johnson, 6
- Herman Cain, 5
- Michele Bachmann, 5
- Jon Huntsman, 3
- Buddy Roemer, 3
- Rick Santorum, 3
- Newt Gingrich, 1
- Fred Karger, 0
Rudy Giuliani and Paul Ryan each received 1 percent of the vote as write-in candidates, while another 1 percent was comprised of candidates who received less than 1 percent, according to event officials.
Gingrich, Perry, Romney and Santorum all were unrepresented at Saturday's event, as no one spoke on their behalf and none had a table at the event.
Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
State Sen. Jim Forsythe spoke on behalf of Paul.
Saturday's event, which drew roughly 350 people, also featured a .
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
