Delegates to the Georgia GOP 3rd Congressional District convention on April 16 had their say in a Presidential straw poll that resulted in a first-place tie between radio talk show host Herman Cain and former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and an unexpectedly strong showing by Donald Trump.

The vote in Columbus tallied 225 votes among the 250 in attendance. But it was Donald Trump who surprised many by finishing a strong fourth in the voting, according to District 3 Rep. Brant Frost of Newnan.

When the voting was done the results showed both Cain and Gingrich with 39 votes, followed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee with 35 votes and Trump with 31.

“Trump has been the toast of the presidential sweepstakes for the last few weeks and appears to have taking west Georgia by storm as well,” Frost said.

Beyond the scores of the top four there were a number of nationally recognized Republicans whose names made their way to the vote tally. Among those were New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 20 votes, Mitt Romney with 15, Sarah Palin with 10 votes, Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty with eight votes each and Texas Rep. Ron Paul with seven votes.

The Republicans who gathered in Columbus to participate in the 3rd District convention were addressed by Congressman Lynn Westmoreland and local and state elected officials. But the main highlight of the day was a presidential straw poll, Frost said.