Texas Senator Ted Cruz showed a little muscle in his home state by capturing a presidential straw polll taken at the Republican state convention by a wide margin. Politico: Sen. Ted Cruz dominated the presidential straw poll at the Texas GOP convention on Saturday, pulling in 43.4 percent of the votes at the contest in his home state, far ahead of other possible 2016 contenders on the ballot. In the survey, which is an informal read of the most committed conservatives in the party, the retired neurosurgeon-turned-conservative firebrand Ben Carson came in a distant second. Carson, who was not in attendance, raked in 12.2 percent of the vote, barely beating out Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who pulled in 12.1 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry came in third with 11.7 percent, while well behind him was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush with just 3.3 percent. The poll surveyed 5,266 convention-goers from June 4-7. Cruz, Paul and Perry are all likely 2016 contenders, and Cruz and...(Read Full Post)