Carlos Lopez-Cantera Wins Polk County GOP Straw Poll

Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera won a straw poll held by the Polk County GOP on Tuesday night as he continues his U.S Senate bid. 

Lopez-Cantera took 74 percent of the votes cast with U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., his nearest rival at 15 percent. 

"I'm honored to win the same straw poll Marco Rubio won in his Senate race six years ago, and thank my supporters in Polk County,” Lopez-Cantera said. “Their leadership as Florida Republicans is vital to sharing conservative values and principles. Our grassroots support continues to grow and I'm excited to keep building the momentum.”

“Polk County is unique,” said Polk County GOP Chairman Jim Guth. “We are rural and we are a bellwether of Florida voters. Republicans in Polk County turn out to vote and this is a critical measure of candidate support at the grassroots level. This is the first REC straw poll in the U.S. Senate race, and an early indicator of what candidate has the organization and ability to win statewide. We congratulate Carlos Lopez-Cantera on his strong showing of grassroots support this evening.”