Leading up the 2016 presidential election cycle, commentators expressed their opinion that Cruz would run for President in 2016. On March 14, 2013, he gave the keynote speech at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. He tied for 7th place in the 2013 CPAC straw poll on March 16, winning 4% of the votes cast. He performed even more strongly in the 2014 CPAC straw poll, coming in second with 11% behind Kentucky senator Rand Paul. In the 2015 CPAC poll, he came in third with 11.5% behind Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Paul.