WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas beat out rivals in the 2016 Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll as the first-choice pick for the U.S. presidency. A total of 2,659 attendees were surveyed, with Cruz snagging the first-place slot with 40 points, followed by rivals Marco Rubio with 30 points and Republican national front-runner Donald Trump with 15. The election will be held in November.  (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Matthew Lewis) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production.