Herman Cain Wins Florida Straw Poll

For those who are closely following the Republican presidential primary race, Atlanta-based businessman Herman Cain just moved up in the ranks.

In Saturday's straw poll in Florida, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, and a strong Tea Party contender, came in a firm favorite with 37 percent of the vote. Second, with a distant 15 percent, was Texas Gov. Rick Perry and third, at 14 percent, was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

According to USA Today, Cain's win is a major upset. Fellow Georgian and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich came in sixth with 9 percent, and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann came in last, only garnering 2 percent of the vote.

The Florida Straw Poll has a reputation of accurately signaling the GOP's eventual nominee. In the three times it has been held, the winners were Ronald Reagan in 1979, George H.W. Bush in 1987 and Bob Dole in 1995. Each went on to win the nomination.

Cain, whose campaign is based in Stockbridge, initially held a strong lead in the polls in Georgia, but had slipped back to second place behind Perry recently. It has yet to be seen whether Georgians will be swayed by the opinion of their neighbors to the south.

In the last few days, Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been very vocal in his opinion that the Florida straw poll winner will be the next president of the United States. Cain must be feeling a lot better about his chances now. According to all the pundits, this will give him much greater name recognition, something considered one of his biggest problems when he first got into the race. Cain came in fioth in the Iowa Straw Poll.