Politics

N.C. Tea Party members reject front-runners

By Bill Moss, Published: October 19, 2015

Trump and Fiorina were out. So was incumbent U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

The winners of a straw poll at nine North Carolina Tea party caucus meetings Saturday were Ted Cruz for president and Larry Holmquist for the Senate.

Larry who? A 61-year-old Greensboro resident, Holmquist calls himself the "true conservative" candidate for Senate.

The results for president: Ted Cruz: 50.13%; Ben Carson: 42.05%; Carly Fiorina: 0.77%; Bobby Jindal: 0.26%; Rand Paul: 2.31%; Marco Rubio: 0.51%; and Donald Trump: 3.97% out of 780 total votes cast.

The results for Senate: Larry Holmquist: 58.28%; Greg Brannon: 36.55%; Mark Meadows: 4/48%; Paul Wright: 0.34%; and Richard Burr: 0.34% out of 290 total votes cast.

"These results are significant in light of the fact that North Carolina is a ‘winner take all state,’ the state Tea Party said in a news release. "A candidate can win with far less than 40% of the vote to win our state. Also, the primary date has been moved from May to March 2016."

The NC TEA Party Constitutional Caucus took place Saturday held in nine cities across the state.