Calif. Repubs Favor Romney

At the California Republican Convention late last month, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won a poll of preferred GOP candidates for president in 2012.

After eight rounds of voting, Romney came out on top, besting former House speaker Newt Gingrich (who garnered the second-highest amount of votes) and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. Big names like ex–Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin were knocked out in early rounds of voting.

Romney, a Mormon, is seen as a flip-flopper on LGBT issues, supporting gay rights in his 1994 Senate campaign but severely changing tack in his 2008 presidential campaign.

The California poll involved 55 delegates and attendees of the state's GOP convention in Sacramento.