Palin, Perry not on Iowa straw poll ballot

The Iowa Republican Party on Saturday released the names included on the ballot for the 2011 Ames Straw Poll.

Two giant names missing from the ballot are those of undeclared candidates Sarah Palin and Rick Perry, who have both been intensely speculated about as possible candidates.

Perry, the governor of Texas, said Friday that he is still considering jumping into the race, and will make a decision in the next three or four weeks.

Palin, the former governor of Alaska and 2008 vice-presidential nominee, said last week her decision will come in the next couple of months.

{mosads}Six candidates bought tent space on the straw poll campus, guaranteeing their names would be on the ballot: Reps. Michelle Bachman (Minn.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) and Ron Paul (Texas); businessman Herman Cain; former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Penn.).

Mitt Romney, the current frontrunner in most polls, announced early in June that he would skip the Iowa straw poll, along with all other straw polls, in order to “focus” on winning primaries and caucuses. However, he will be included on the ballot, as will former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, neither of whom reserved space with the Iowa Republican Party.

The Iowa straw poll is closely watched ahead of Iowa’s first in the nation caucus.

The 2011 straw poll is scheduled for August 13 on the campus of Iowa State University in the town of Ames, Iowa.

In an Ohio straw poll, held in fellow Midwestern battleground state on Friday, Romney took first place with 25 percent, followed by Pawlenty, who has been polling in the single digits on nationwide surveys. Perry won fourth place behind Bachmann with 14 percent as a write-in candidate in the Ohio straw poll.