The Republican presidential candidate considered the party's front-runner in the race to oppose U.S. President Barack Obama in next year's election has suffered a significant set-back.

Texas Governor Rick Perry came in a distant second in Saturday's straw vote in (the southern state of )) Florida. The surprise winner was Herman Cain, a former pizza executive who has been near the bottom in recent public opinion surveys in the crowded Republican field.

Cain got 37 percent of the vote to Perry's 15 percent. Former Michigan Governor Mitt Romney was a close third with 14 percent.

The Florida non-binding poll is considered a early test of voter sympathies, 14 months before the election. Since 1979, every ballot winner there has gone on to become the Republican party's nominee.

President Obama on Sunday took his campaign to the West Coast, where in the states of Washington and California he is seeking campaign contributions from Democratic party members.

On Saturday, the president sought to shore up his support among the nation's black voters by addressing the annual awards dinner of the Congressional Black Caucus.

He told the audience, “I need your help.” The votes of African-Americans are considered crucial for Mr. Obama to win a second term in the White House.