Cain received 37 percent of the 2,657 delegate votes cast here today. Perry followed with 15.4 percent. Romney was a close third with 14 percent of the vote.
Cain spent this week campaigning in Florida along the I-4 corridor running between Tampa and Orlando. His events were held in front of local county Republican groups ripe with straw poll delegates. But his victory may also represent the result of Perry’s showing Thursday at the Fox/Google debate.
Many of those gathered for Presidency 5 – the three-day event that concluded with this straw poll – expressed concern that sniping between the front-runners had opened opportunities for the trailing candidates. Perry surrogate Michael Williams, a former Texas Railroad commissioner and current congressional candidate, used his time in front of the delegates to try to reassure those put off by Perry's uneven performance.
"We are not electing a debater-in-chief," Williams said to applause from the crowd. "We are electing a commander-in-chief."
Perry’s national press secretary, Mark Miner, said the results were “not at all a setback” to the campaign. He dismissed the idea that the second place showing demonstrates that Perry has been unable to shake off a rough debate performance Thursday.
"Debates are part of the process but we are taking our message directly to the people. Mitt Romney has been doing debates and running for president for five and a half years and he comes in third. Must be a devastating loss for him and a morale buster for his campaign in a state like Florida after five and a half years.