Romney finishes behind Paul in California GOP straw poll

Mitt Romney continued his recent dominance of the straw poll No. 2 spot this weekend in California.

The former Massachusetts governor finished second behind Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) in balloting at the California Republican Party's spring convention. Sarah Palin finished third. Voting was conducted at a booth operated by the Republican Liberty Caucus of California, a group of libertarian-leaning activists.

Paul and Romney were also the top two finishers at the Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll in February.

Meanwhile, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), who addressed the state GOP convention in Sacramento on Saturday, finished below "undecided" in the informal survey, according to the Sacramento Bee. The former chairman of the Republican National Committee took just 2 percent of the vote, though voting was conducted before his speech.

--Updated at 1:35 p.m.