‘PERRY-WHO?’ Surprise Third-Place Finisher in CPAC Straw Poll Perry Johnson Jokes About His Lack of Name Recognition

Sarah RumpfMar 4th, 2023, 8:27 pm
 
Perry Johnson

Daniel Shular/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP

Former President Donald Trump easily won the CPAC straw poll on Saturday, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a distant second..and some guy named Perry Johnson came in third.

“Who the [bleep] is Perry Johnson?” was a commonly tweeted sentiment as the straw poll results were released, with Trump getting 62%, DeSantis getting 20%, Johnson getting 5%, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at 3%, and several other contenders with one percent or a fraction of a percent.

Johnson is a Republican businessman from Michigan who built his wealth through Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc., which conducts quality control reviews and other certifications for industrial businesses.

The Bloomfield Hills resident attempted to run for his state’s GOP nomination for governor in 2022 but was disqualified from the ballot for falling short of the 15,000 signature requirement and thousands of the signatures he submitted were found to be fraudulent.

He announced he was launching a presidential campaign on Thursday, just a few hours after he had spoken at CPAC. According to NBC, Johnson “did not directly mention his presidential campaign” during his CPAC remarks.

Johnson had run an ad during the Super Bowl touting what he calls his “Two Cent Plan to Save America,” which criticized wasteful spending by Democrats.

Politico’s Meridith McGraw noted that Johnson had “set up shop” at CPAC this week, and seemed to have made some sort of impact, springing him to a surprise third place.

https://twitter.com/meridithmcgraw/status/1632085537807908865?s=20

After the straw poll results were announced, Johnson posted a tweet showing a photo of him during his CPAC speech with the caption “PERRY-WHO? Perry Johnson Places 3rd in CPAC Straw Poll,” and writing that he “couldn’t be more thrilled to have earned the votes of so many conservatives.”

—

Tags:
Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.