Herman Cain barely edges out Ron Paul in Georgia straw poll

Georgia businessman and Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain won the statewide straw poll held by the Georgia Republican Party on Saturday with 26 percent of the vote, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He beat Texas Congressman Ron Paul by only three votes.

Cain was unable to appear at the poll at the Georgia National Fairgrounds because he was still returning from a trip to Israel to attend Glenn Beck’s "Restoring Courage" rally.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry came in third with 20 percent of the vote and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented Georgia's 6th congressional district from 1979 to 1999, finished fourth with 18 percent.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney came in fifth with 6 percent and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann finished sixth with 3 percent.

Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Thad McCotter, Buddy Roemer, and Gary Johnson all received less than 1 percent of the votes.