New Mexico: Protests Overshadow Trump's Victory in Washington

Although Donald Trump easily won the state of Washington on Tuesday, that victory was overshadowed by violence at a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where windows were broken and rocks were thrown at police, reports the British Guardian, as reported by the Patria News Agency.

With 73% of votes counted in Washington, Trump received 76.2% of the primary votes. John Kasich and Ted Cruz, who have dropped out of the race, won 9.9% and 10.1% respectively.

After this victory, Trump will need only 20 more delegates to reach the magic number of 1,237 required to cement the nomination for the Republican Party.

Yesterday's protests against presumptive candidate Trump during his rally in Albuquerque escalated into actual violence, during which control barriers were overturned and stones were thrown at the police.

Early social media posts reported gunshots and tear gas, but the Albuquerque police denied this. Mounted police were also engaged to control the crowd of protesters, with some reports indicating the use of tear gas. The doors of the conference center where Trump was scheduled to speak were also destroyed, the Guardian reported.

More than an hour after Trump finished his speech and departed for California, where he will participate in a multi-day election campaign, hundreds of demonstrators were still gathered in the streets, waving Mexican flags, setting fires, and chanting.

Trump is the only remaining candidate for the Republican nomination, but Kasich and Cruz were also present at polling stations in Washington.

Dr. Ben Carson was also at a polling station, as he reportedly never officially withdrew his candidacy.

The state delegation, selected on Saturday at the state convention in preparation for the election campaign, consists almost entirely of Cruz supporters, who attended the state convention in Pasco in large numbers.

Nevertheless, the delegates were bound by state party rules to vote for Trump in the first round at the national convention, American Senate candidate and former chairman of the Washington State Republican Party Chris Vance told the Guardian.

However, with the upcoming 7 primary votes, including New Jersey and California, Trump is expected to easily secure the conditions necessary for the nomination in the first vote at the convention in Cleveland in July.

Democrats also held their presidential primary vote in Washington on Tuesday, which was essentially meaningless as the Washington Democratic delegation already has the results of an earlier vote in which Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton 73% to 27%.

What is interesting for the Democratic Party, and admittedly insignificant as it does not affect the number of delegates, is that Clinton won 53.46% versus 46.37%, implying that perhaps the Democrats want to put the primary behind them.