Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has won the Conservative Political Action Conference's presidential preference poll with  Gov. Christie coming in last.

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) speaks at the CPAC Conference
Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) speaks at the CPAC Conference (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
loading...

The overwhelming win is purely symbolic, but reflects the Republican senator's popularity among conservatives who typically hold outsized influence in the GOP's presidential selection process.

Paul captured 31 percent of the vote. He won the poll last year as well.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished second place with 11 percent, followed by neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and Christie.

None of the Republicans in the poll have formally entered the 2016 race yet.

The victory was announced Saturday evening as the annual conservative conference wrapped up. Thousands of activists flocked to suburban Washington for the three-day gathering.

Nearly 2,500 hundred activists voted. They were younger and more male than the typical electorate.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)

More From WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM