By Tim Alberta, May 23, 2015, National Journal

OKLAHOMA CITY—Ben Carson scored a hard-earned victory in the presidential straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, beating Scott Walker and Ted Cruz in a popularity contest among the conservative activists gathered for the three-day summit.

Carson and his supporters made a priority of winning the straw poll, which they hoped would demonstrate his strength among grassroots Republicans. Pro-Carson activists flooded the event, passing out literature and lobbying attendees to support him in the straw poll. His super PAC even purchased 100 tickets to the conference and re-sold them to activists at a cheaper price. "That certainly gave him an advantage," said Bill Shapard, whose firm, SoonerPoll, conducted the survey.

Carson took 25.4 percent of the 958 votes cast, followed by Walker at 20.5 percent and Cruz at 16.6 percent. Both Carson and Walker addressed the conference and met with attendees, while Cruz had to skip his scheduled Friday night speech because of Senate votes held in Washington.