Ted Cruz wins MN Republican Party's presidential straw poll

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Presidential contender Ted Cruz won a strong endorsement from Minnesota Republicans Saturday in a straw poll of party activists.

Cruz won the support of 90 of the 283 delegates attending the state Republican Party's State Central Committee meeting in Monticello, Minnesota, according to results released by party officials.

That was nearly twice as many as Cruz's closest competitor, Marco Rubio, who received 46 votes. Donald Trump and Ben Carson, who are leading in many national polls, placed fourth and sixth, respectively. Nineteen of the delegates were undecided.

The significance of Cruz's showing comes not from the number of people participating, but from the fact that they're all influential members of the party, the Star Tribune reports.

So observers take the outcome as a sign of which campaigns to watch over the next few months leading up to Minnesota's presidential party caucuses on Super Tuesday, March 1.

Eleven other states are also holding primaries or caucuses that night to choose their favored presidential candidates.

Cruz supporters said their candidate may schedule a visit to Minnesota before March 1.

Here are the complete results of the straw poll, according to the state Republican Party:

Candidate/number of votes

Ted Cruz 90

Marco Rubio 46

Carly Fiorina 33

Donald Trump 29

Rand Paul 28

Ben Carson 23

Jeb Bush 4

Chris Christie 4