Ted Cruz just crushed Donald Trump in Washington State election of GOP delegates

Ted Cruz swept the Washington State delegate selection process

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 23 May 2016

Washington State holds its Republican primary on Tuesday, and with one candidate left in the race, there's not too much drama about the outcome. But in a twist — and what would the 2016 race be without a twist? — 40 of Washington's 41 delegates selected Saturday to attend the Republican National Convention in July are Ted Cruz partisans. Cruz supporters outnumbered Donald Trump supporters at the state GOP convention in Pasco, and they were better organized, pushing through the Cruz slate of delegates over occasional protests from Trump backers, who noted repeatedly that Cruz is no longer in the race.

Among the Trump supporters who did not get elected a national delegate is Trump state campaign chairman Don Benton, a Washington State senator. Benton predicted that the Cruz delegates will come around to supporting Trump — in fact, according to state party rules, they have to at the convention, assuming Trump wins the primary on Tuesday. But the Republicans in Washington State are not yet unified, The Seattle Times reports, and several candidates for statewide office are either studiously not saying if they will support Trump, like gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant, or saying they won't. "Do you think I enjoy this? Not supporting the nominee?" said Chris Vance, a GOP candidate for U.S. Senate. "It's unpleasant."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.