Previous story:

Robert F. Bukaty | AP

Zoo Cain (foreground) attends a crowded caucus in Portland on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012.

Robert F. Bukaty | AP

Mike Donahue plants signs in frozen ground in support of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul outside a caucus, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, in Portland, Maine.

Related stories

• Romney takes on hecklers in Portland
• Mitt Romney, Ron Paul fighting for GOP nomination in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney narrowly edged Texas Congressman Ron Paul in Maine’s nonbinding GOP presidential preference poll on Saturday, ending a string of defeats for the Republican front-runner.

According to unofficial results announced Saturday evening by Maine Republican Party Chairman Charlie Webster, Romney took 39 percent of votes during statewide caucuses held during the last few weeks. Paul finished second at 36 percent.

“It’s good news. I’m hopeful this ends Romney’s little slide,” Maine House Speaker Robert Nutting said shortly after the announcement. “Romney is the best candidate to beat President Obama in the fall.”

Maine had been considered a race between Romney and Paul and both candidates spent time in the state on Saturday to solidify support.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum did not actively campaign here and it showed. Santorum took 18 percent of the vote in the presidential preference poll, while Gingrich took only 6 percent.

At caucus sites across the state over the last few weeks, Maine Republicans participated in the poll and those results were compiled to determine a de facto winner in Maine.

Ruth Summers, vice chair of the Maine GOP, said while it’s true that the presidential preference poll is nonbinding, it does “take the pulse of the Republican party in the state of Maine.”

The results announced Saturday included about 90 percent of the towns that participated in caucuses but Summers said that would be considered the final vote. Not all Maine caucuses had been held as of Saturday. A handful of communities were scheduled to hold theirs later this month. Washington County Republicans were supposed to caucus on Saturday but canceled on Friday because of pending snow.

Maine will have 24 national delegates at the national convention in August but they will be nonbinding delegates not pledged to any candidate. Historically, a nominee is usually chosen by convention time.

The poll results were announced at an event hosted by the Maine Republican Party at the Regency in Portland. About 200 prominent state Republicans attended.

Originally, several were scheduled to speak, including Nutting, Attorney General William Schneider and Secretary of State Charlie Summers. However, in order to release the results ahead of the evening news, the schedule was condensed.

Only U.S. Sen. Susan Collins spoke. She was introduced after Webster announced that Maine Republicans “broke caucus attendance records from Fort Kent to Kittery.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that we’ve had record turnout because the stakes are so high,” she said, adding that no matter who the candidate is, “we’ll all unite to elect a Republican president this fall.”

“We must not be the first generation to pass along to the next generation an America that is less free, that is less prosperous, that provides less opportunity,” Collins continued. “We Republicans have the vision, the ideas, the commitment and the candidates to ensure that that is not America’s fate.”

Paul was holding an event in Portland as well. Summers said the candidate was invited to the Maine GOP party but she wasn’t sure why he declined the invitation.

Earlier in the day Saturday, Romney received more good news: He won the straw poll at at the Conservative Political Action Conference with 38 percent of the vote, followed by Santorum with 31 percent. Most rank Romney as the least conservative of the four candidates left in the race.

However, Politico reported earlier Saturday that a recent PPP tracking poll showed Santorum ahead of Romney, thanks in large part to Santorum’s wins in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri earlier this week.