Clinton, Trump Win Primaries in Washington State

Despite sharing the ballot with three candidates who previously dropped out of the race, Donald Trump easily won the Republican primary in Washington state. Clinton beat Sanders, although no delegates will be allocated to Clinton. Early returns showed the Democratic frontrunner winning 54% to 46%.

Early in the evening, Trump took a 75% lead in the state, followed by Ted Cruz and John Kasich, who both walked away with 10% each. Ben Carson received 4% of the vote.

Although Trump is the only remaining Republican candidate, Kasich, Carson and Cruz appeared on the ballot because they dropped out of the race after the ballots were already printed.

All of the 44 delegates in Washington will be given to Trump.

Washington state has both a caucus and a primary system, but the Democratic side ignores the primary results and keeps only the results of the caucus system. Sanders easily won the caucuses back in March. A Democratic Party spokesman in the state said 74 delegates will be given to Sanders, and 27 will go to Clinton.

Although the Democratic primary results won’t budge Clinton’s pledged delegates, the campaign will likely say that the results of the poll are the will of the people. The Clinton camp will no doubt use the Washington primary to further her campaign efforts.