March 4, 2016 at 3:44 pm EST | by Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump came in first place Wednesday night, March 2, in a straw poll conducted at the D.C. Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Douglas Dinner.

A statement released by the D.C. Republican Committee says Trump received 31 percent of the vote, with GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio coming in second with 28 percent. GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz received 16 percent, John Kasich received 14 percent and Ben Carson received 5 percent.

D.C. GOP Chair Jose Cunningham said in the statement that “hundreds” of D.C. Republicans who attended the annual dinner at the Lowes Madison Hotel voted in the straw poll.

Cunningham noted that “thousands of D.C. registered Republicans” will have a chance to vote for the Republican presidential candidate of their choice and how many delegates from D.C. they receive at a March 12 convention also to be held at the Lowes Madison.

Republicans participating in the convention will also vote to select who the city’s 16 delegates and 16 alternate delegates will be who will attend the Republican National Convention in July.

At least seven gay candidates who are members of the local D.C. Log Cabin Republicans group are among 160 candidates competing for the delegate and alternate positions.

“You see a similar race developing in the District that we’ve witnessed in virtually all the states so far,” Cunningham said in referring to the D.C. GOP’s March 12 presidential preference vote.

https://www.washingtonblade.com/2016...op-straw-poll/