“I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order,” he said, garnering applause.

Rep. Mike Pence, a fast-rising conservative firebrand from Indiana, was the surprise winner of a straw poll on Saturday (Sept. 18) among 17 possible Republican presidential candidates at the 2010 Values Voter Summit.

Pence beat out better known conservative leaders, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to win with 24 percent in a vote sponsored the political arm of the Washington-based Family Research Council.

Coming in second was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, with 22 percent. Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor, won the straw poll the two previous years.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said Pence’s “outstanding” speech on Friday at the summit, which has drawn some 2,000 social conservatives, was well-received. Palin, who was invited to speak, did not attend.

“I just attribute it to Congressman Pence’s ability to communicate a very strong, conservative message,” Perkins said. “I think Congressman Pence has been out challenging both parties on their fiscal policy and taking strong stands on social issues…”

Pence, the former chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, wasted no time in forming a connection with the religious conservatives at the summit when he took his turn at the podium Friday.

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