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Mitt Romney eked out a narrow win in Maine's Republican caucuses and won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll of conservative activists.
Maine party officials announced the caucus win Saturday, providing his campaign with a much-needed boost after three straight losses earlier this week. But the former Massachusetts governor's margin of victory over rival Ron Paul was so slim it all but guaranteed scrutiny of the party's decision not to count the results of caucuses scheduled later in February.
State Republican Chairman Charlie Webster announced Romney had won with 2,190 votes compared to 1,996 for Paul, the only other candidate to aggressively compete in the state. Rick Santorum received 989 votes and Newt Gingrich won 349, but neither actively campaigned there.
Webster said any caucus results that come in after Saturday wouldn't be counted no matter how close the vote turned out to be.
"Some caucuses decided not to participate in this poll and will caucus after this announcement," Webster said. "Their results will not be factored in. The absent votes will not be factored into this announcement after the fact."
Maine's caucuses began Feb. 4 and continued throughout the week. But the results announced Saturday accounted for just 83 percent of the state's precincts.
Speaking to supporters in Portland, Paul expressed disappointment that only a portion of the state's caucuses had counted toward the total.
"I wish all the caucuses had met today," Paul said, adding, "It's almost like we could call it a tie."
Several communities elected to hold their caucuses at a later date.
Romney's win in the The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll of conservative activists had a smaller margin.
The former Massachusetts governor is favored as the Republican presidential nominee by 38 percent of the 3,408 respondents. Rivals Rick Santorum drew 31 percent, and Newt Gingrich was favored by 15 percent. All three candidates addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday.
Romney had encouraged students to attend the convention, and 44 percent of them participated in the poll.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul had 12 percent. He won the straw poll in the previous two years. Paul did not attend the conference to campaign in Maine.
GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said the poll was held online for the first time this year and produced the second highest turnout in the conference's history.
Romney was attending a fundraiser in California late Saturday, after campaigning in Maine earlier in the day, visiting caucus sites where he pressed voters for their support.
"I thank the voters of Maine for their support," Romney said in a statement late Saturday. "I'm committed to turning around America. And I'm heartened to have the support of so many good people in this great state."
Romney's victories helped slow a skid that began earlier this week when he lost contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.
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