Values Voter Summit

The first summit was held in 2006. Among the key issues for values voters defined by the organizers are opposition to abortion and to same-sex marriage, and a strong national defense. The Los Angeles Times describes the conference as combination rally, revival meeting, political convention and bazaar." The conference typically includes appearances from Republican potential presidential candidates vying for the support of the crucial social conservative base of the party. Featured guests at the summit have included right-wing commentators Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, in addition to numerous elected officials and other conservative figures. Co-sponsors of the event included other Christian political action groups, including AFA Action, part of the American Family Association, The Heritage Foundation, Liberty University, Liberty Counsel, and Gary Bauer's organization American Values. Starting with the second annual conference in 2007, the summit began holding its own presidential straw poll, similarly to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and other conferences. The winner of the first presidential straw poll, of about 5,776 votes, was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, who would later go on to be the runner-up of the 2008 primaries before winning the nomination in 2012. After a "civil war" over the inclusion of the gay Republican group GOProud led many conservative organizations and activists to boycott the 2011 CPAC, Politico reported that a group of conservative figures were beginning to organize to turn the Values Voter Summit into "a full-fledged rival to CPAC" by expanding its focus to include economic and national security issues. Several of the organizations that have been boycotting the CPAC are now sponsors or participants in the Values Voter Summit. In addition, the 2014 poll marked the first time in the history of the summit that a vice presidential poll was held in addition to the presidential contest. Carson won that poll with 22%, followed by Cruz's 14% and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal's 11%. With these two polls, Cruz set two records for the summit presidential polls; the first person to win more than one poll, and the highest percentage ever won in any poll since it started in 2007 (with his margin of 42% in 2013). The 2015 conference (the last one to be held before the 2016 Republican primaries began) was held from September 25 to September 27. This notably coincided with the announcement of the resignation of Speaker of the House John Boehner on the 25th. When Florida Senator Marco Rubio made the announcement, the entire audience erupted into applause at the news. Subsequently, the results of the presidential straw poll saw the same exact top three candidates for the second year in a row: Cruz once again came in first, with Carson in second, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in third. Businessman Donald Trump, then the frontrunner for the nomination in all major national polls, came in fifth place with only 5% of the vote. In October 2017, addressing the annual gathering for the third time, President Donald Trump became the first sitting president to do so and spoke for about thirty minutes. == Conflict with the Southern Poverty Law Center ==

In 2010 the Family Research Council, an important sponsor of the Summit, was included on the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of organizations designated by as anti-LGBT hate groups. The SPLC argues the Family Research Council is trying "to make the case that the LGBT community is a threat to American society" and that Tony Perkins falsely claimed high rates of pedophilia among the LGBT community. In 2012 columnist Dana Milbank, while disagreeing with the Family Research Council, criticized their being so listed as reckless after gunman Floyd Lee Corkins had stated of his attack of the Family Research Council, "Southern Poverty Law lists anti-gay groups. I found them online." The SPLC has defended their own position and in 2017 stated of the Summit itself, "The Values Voter Summit is an annual political conference bringing together some of the most extreme groups on the right, including multiple designated hate groups" and cited the presence of speakers they designate as anti-Islamic along with organizations they deem anti-LGBT hate groups. In 2017 Newsweek also referred to the Summit as a "Hate Group" per the SPLC descriptions. ==Presidential straw polls==

A presidential straw poll has been held each year since 2007: • 2007: Mitt Romney, 28%; Mike Huckabee, 27%; Ron Paul, 15%; Fred Thompson, 10%; Rudy Giuliani, 2%; John McCain, 1%. • 2008: No straw poll was held since the Republican nominee for the 2008 presidential election, John McCain, was already decided. Instead, speakers and attendees expressed support for McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin. • 2009: Mike Huckabee, 28%; Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Sarah Palin, and Mike Pence, 12%. • 2010: Mike Pence, 24%; Mike Huckabee, 22%; Mitt Romney, 13%; Newt Gingrich, 10%; Sarah Palin, 7%. • 2011: Ron Paul, 37%; Herman Cain, 23%; Rick Santorum, 16%; Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, 8%; Mitt Romney, 4%; Newt Gingrich, 3%; Jon Huntsman, Jr., 0%. • 2012: Again, no straw poll was held as Mitt Romney had already been nominated as the Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Thus, the conference once again simply served for speakers and attendees to express support for Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan. • 2013: Ted Cruz, 42%; Ben Carson and Rick Santorum, 13%; Rand Paul, 6%; Marco Rubio, 5%. • 2014: Ted Cruz, 25%; Ben Carson, 20%; Mike Huckabee, 12%. • Vice presidential poll, 2014: Ben Carson, 22%; Ted Cruz, 14%; Bobby Jindal, 11% • 2015: Ted Cruz, 35%; Ben Carson, 18%; Mike Huckabee, 14%; Marco Rubio, 13%; Donald Trump, 5% Family Research Council president Tony Perkins all but discredited Paul's victory, saying, "I don’t think Ron Paul is truly reflective of where values voters stand." He also said, "Ron Paul bussed in over 600 people not to attend the conference but to hear his speech and vote. I give them credit for being organized." ==See also==