(CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a stalwart foe of government spending, won a blowout victory Saturday in the annual Conservative Political Action Conference presidential straw poll.

With participants naming "reducing the size of federal government" as their top issue, the 74-year old libertarian hero captured 31 percent of the 2,400 votes cast in the annual contest, usually seen as a barometer of how the GOP's conservative wing regards their potential presidential candidates.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished second with 22 percent of the vote, ending a three-year winning streak at CPAC. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finished third with 7 percent of the vote, followed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty at 6 percent and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence at 5 percent.

They were followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who tied at 4 percent. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, South Dakota Sen. John Thune and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour rounded out the results.

Five percent of participants voted for "Other" and 6 percent was undecided.

The announcement of Paul's win, a surprise victory unlikely to have a major impact on the 2012 presidential contest, drew a volley of loud boos from the CPAC audience.

That discontent could be seen in the poll results: A majority of participants said they wished the Republican Party had a better field of candidates to choose from.

But Paul's victory might be seen, in part, as a result of his support among anti-establishment Tea Party activists -- who turned out in force at this year's conference and expressed some frustration with the Republican Party.

Reflecting the college atmosphere of the annual event, young people dominated the voting: 54 percent of participants were between the ages of 18 and 25.

The poll also contained a bit of bad news for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who made an under-the-radar appearance at CPAC late Friday.

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Participants were asked to rate their opinions of several top political figures, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner, both of whom received a majority favorable rating.

But Steele was the only Republican to garner an upside-down rating, with 44 percent giving him an unfavorable rating and 42 percent rating him favorably.

The three-day meeting Saturday that has featured speeches by Republican leaders, training sessions for local political activists and a renewed purpose to stand firm behind their principles heading into the midterm elections.

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Could dreams really come true in America?

Ron Paul wins EVERY poll... I remember the hiliarity when in the debates he was alowed to join he won the "vote" for who won on the online CNN polls by like 70%.

As a foreigner who expressed little interest in the Republican party's shenanigans during the last election, I am ignorant of Ron Paul's policies.

If it isn't too much trouble, I'm hoping (ney, I'm sure) someone will step in and quell me of my ignorance.

Ron Paul wins EVERY poll... I remember the hiliarity when in the debates he was alowed to join he won the "vote" for who won on the online CNN polls by like 70%.

I'd love to see what America would look like in an alternate universe in which Ron Paul becomes president.

Ah, based on that micro-coverage of his policies, I'll try and answer Sorcery's question:

The USA would look a lot worse now, and Ron Paul would have lower ratings currently than even that of Obama, but, economically speaking, it would look much better in 20 years time, and Ron Paul would be more favoured in hindsight as a President than what Obama will be (unless, of course, Obama manages some breakthroughs in international relations, etc. which make up for his economic incompetence).

Ron Paul has a zero percent change of winning the actual 2012 election he is too old that's one of the contributing factors of McCain's defeat him picking Palin as VP just sealed his defeat.

FYI, Ron Paul has never won the CPAC poll.

@Chris Hu -

I don't think Ron's age would hurt him if he presented himself as being intelligent and ready for the job.

This isn’t that surprising being that many of the things that conservative and independent voters are the most upset about right now are issues that Ron Paul championed years ago.