At the August 11 Iowa Straw Poll, Huckabee took second place with 2,587 votes, roughly 18 percent. Huckabee spent $57.98 per vote in the Straw Poll, which is the lowest among the top three finishers. Since Romney was expected by the vast majority to take first in the poll, many declared Huckabee the big winner. The National Review said that "When it was all over, there was no doubt that the winner of the day was Huckabee." Huckabee told reports that "It is beyond huge. Tonight, for all practical purposes, we won the Iowa straw poll. No one was even saying we would come in second. You gotta admit, for what we had to work with, the resources we had, for us to surge, coming in second, is the victory, it is the story."