Bachmann Wins Iowa Straw Poll, Pawlenty Drops Out

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) won the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday in what is widely considered the first significant contest of the 2012 election season.

Bachmann garnered 4823 votes and was followed closely by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) who came in with 4671 votes.

Tim Pawlenty, who came in at a distant third with only 2293 votes, announced Sunday that he would be dropping out of the Presidential race.

“We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward,” Pawlenty said on ABC’s This Week. “That didn’t happen.”

Although Bachmann emerged the victor from Saturday’s contest, she still has a rough road ahead. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and late-addition to the GOP field Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, out-poll the Minnesota Congresswoman nationally. Neither competed in the Straw Poll.