Supporting Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid wasn’t necessarily an easy decision for David FitzSimmons. While the three-term Republican congresswoman would seem a natural choice for FitzSimmons, who chairs the Republican Party in her home 6th District, he was squarely in the Ron Paul camp during the 2008 election and worked for his campaign.

In results published Tuesday morning, the MN GOP's straw poll shows Bachmann gaining 2,300 votes of the total 7,731 cast -- or just under 30 percent.

In July, the first time Perry was included in the Gallup survey, his support registered at 18 percent. He now sits at 29 percent.

"No one is sinking faster than Bachmann," the polling analysis notes.

A survey of Iowa Republicans shows Rick Perry's support at 29 percent, by far the highest among the field. The next highest level of support was Bachmann's 17 percent.

Button Gwinnett is among the first to arrive at Michele Bachmann's straw-poll-eve rally on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. He wears a tri-corner hat and carries a "Don't Tread on Me" flag, by now de rigueur accoutrements for Tea Party revelers. Gwinnett claims to have been the first signer of the Declaration of Independence (actually he was the second) and frequently muses about the tyranny of the state. "Bachmann's our girl," he states, when asked about his presidential preference. "She'll be the next queen."

Michele Bachmann narrowly triumphed in the Iowa Straw Poll, a crucial early test of strength in the 2012 GOP presidential nomination process. Bachmann defeated congressman Ron Paul by less than 200 votes out of nearly 17,000 cast. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third, and subsequently announced that he is dropping out of the 2012 presidential race.

The survey of likely caucus voters shows Bachmann with 22 percent support. Pawlenty was fifth with 5 percent.

Bachmann's surge, which began with her announcement during the first GOP primary debate, has coincided with increasingly poor numbers for Pawlenty.

Pawlenty garnered 5 percent support among those Republicans surveyed, while Bachmann saw her 6 percent total matched by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.