BELLEVUE—As numbers continue to come in from Republican caucuses held on January 13, the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, maintains his 2-to-1 lead over fellow contenders in Washington state.
“It appears that Donald J Trump has swept the caucuses in Washington state with 65-70% of the delegates supporting him,” former Senator Don Benton, and Washington State Director for Trump for President 2024, told the Lynnwood Times. “This is not a fluke. Anyone who has been paying attention will tell you the cost of everything has gone up and they’re worried about their kids being sent off to fight in two or maybe three foreign wars. The election of Donald J Trump as President will make all of these things better for all Americans—Democrat, Independent, and Republican.”
Benton, chaired Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign in Washington state and was appointed to the Trump Administration in 2017 as the 13th Director of the U.S. Selective Service System (USSS) on April 11, 2017, and served his full term. It is one of the few appointments where a director reports personally to the President of the United States.
Between 2017 and 2020, the overall engagement score for the USSS increased 84%, from a score of 44.3 to 81.3 out of 100 under Benton’s tenure resulting in the agency receiving national recognition for various workforce improvements.
Because the Iowa Caucus, that were on January 15, must be the first in the country to report their results, the Washington State Republican Party is not releasing official tallies of its presidential and gubernatorial votes from its January 13 precinct caucuses for another two weeks. However, multiple sources in the largest counties—King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Skagit—have informed the Lynnwood Times that supporters of the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, overwhelmingly attended the caucuses on Saturday and that he is expected to win, with a split between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, in that order.
According to Bill Cooper, Chair of the Snohomish County Republican Party, Trump won his county’s caucus with 71.1% of the vote (257 votes), Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was second with 13.85% (50 votes), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley with 11.63% (42 votes) and all other candidates with only 12 votes.
Pierce County, which had a turnout of approximately 1,000, is reporting at least 60% (650 votes) for Trump and sources have told the Lynnwood Times that approximately 65% of Republican caucus attendees in King County, the most populous county in Washington state, voted for the former President. Virtually all of caucus attendees in Skagit voted for Trump.
Island County is officially reporting 65.7% of caucus goers voted for Trump with Haley and DeSantis receiving 9.3% and 3.6% respectively. Approximately 21% of the vote was undecided.
Spokane County reported on January 20, that of over 700 participants at its caucuses, former President Trump received approximately 80% of the vote with gubernatorial candidate Semi Bird receiving a 2-to-1 victory.
Early voting seemed to have favored Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert but as more caucuses tally their votes, the race is now neck-to-neck with Semi Bird and is now a tossup on who will win.
Snohomish County reported on January 19 that Bird was its winner with 50.3% (169 votes) edging out Reichert at 49.7% (167 votes). Benton County voted 78% (131 votes) for Bird to Reichert’s 22% (37 votes).
Sources tell the Lynnwood Times that Bird is in a dead heat with Reichert in King County. But again, this is unofficial as the tallies are not yet complete. The official results will be released within the next two weeks.
Due to inclement weather, the following precinct caucuses have been rescheduled:
- Cowlitz: January 27, 204
- Skamania: January 27, 2024
- Thurston: February 2, 2024
- Klickitat: February 3, 2024
- Clark: February 3, 2024
- Wahkiakum: TBA
With 99% of the precincts counted, the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, won the Iowa Caucus on January 15 with 51%, 29.8 points from the nearest contender. The margin of victory is the largest Republican Iowa Caucus win in its state history. In an election night surprise, Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald J Trump.
Trump thanked a room filled of supporters, his wife Melania, and his mother-in-law, Amalija Knavs who passed away last week. He also thanked Ramaswamy for an impressive election night performance.
“This is the time now for everyone in our country to come together,” said Trump to supporters.
He shared his plans to make the United States energy independent, improving election integrity by eliminating mail-in voting, rebuilding infrastructure, getting “tough on crime,” and securing the boarder.
“We are going to drill baby drill. We are going to seal the border… He [Biden] is the worse president we had ever had; he is destroying this country.”
On January 10, Chris Christie officially suspended his race for the White House. In a hot-mic moment, Associated Press reports that Christie criticized fellow presidential contender Haley saying, “She’s going to get smoked… And you and I both know it. She’s not up to this.”
The Iowa Caucus, with its 40 delegates, is the first contest of the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary season. The performances of Trump, adds momentum for his campaign heading into New Hampshire next Tuesday on January 23 for its 22 delegates. The Nevada and the Virgin Islands caucuses are on February 8 and the much-anticipated South Carolina primary is on February 24.
Thurston County Superior Court judge Mary Sue Wilson ruled on January 18, that the 45th President of the United States, Donald J Trump, is to remain on the Washington state’s Presidential Primary Ballot after a challenge by eight Kitsap residents that was originally filed in Kitsap County on January 10, contested the eligibility of Donald J Trump for the office of President under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citing his involvement in the insurrection on January 6, 2021, according to court documents.
“No matter what your party is… this is a win for democracy,” Jim Walsh, Chair of the Washington State Republican Party said on Thursday in video posting on X regarding the Thurston County judge’s ruling.
“No matter what your party is… this is a win for democracy.”
“Some people will say this is about Trump, we say it’s about the democratic process. And a win for democracy today.” Hear more from Chairman Jim Walsh 👇 pic.twitter.com/QCObE3vD6E
— Washington State GOP (@WAGOP) January 18, 2024
Kitsap County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Bassett declined to hear the case on January 16 to consider removing Trump from Washington’s presidential primary ballot this upcoming March, stating Kitsap County was simply the “wrong venue.”
“Our government, at every level, is out of control and needs to be reigned-in significantly,” Benton told the Lynnwood Times. “There is only one person that can and will do that, his name is Donald J Trump. The establishment elites on both sides of the political aisle that profit from government will stop at nothing to stop Donald Trump. They know he is beyond reproach, and he will not stop until America is cleaned up and is back on track constitutionally.
“If people really want to save their country and be sure we return to the rule of law for everybody, you must vote for Trump even if you don’t like his personality. Trump keeps his word and does what he says. That is what we desperately need in America at every level of politics instead of the long list of promises delivered by typical politicians that never materialize.”
Washington State Republican Presidential Primary
The Washington State Republican Party (WSRP) has confirmed with the Lynnwood Times that the five candidate names for its 2024 Presidential Primary ballot are: The 45th President of the United States President Donald J Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
If elected as a delegate at the Washington state Republican Precinct Caucus, a similar process is employed at the County Convention to be elected as a state delegate to the State Convention. The convention rules allow for roughly 2,500 state delegates to be elected from the county conventions. If elected as a state delegate, a similar process is followed at the State Convention, however, only 43 delegates are elected by fellow state delegates to represent Washington at the Republican National Convention from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee.
The winner of the 2024 Presidential Primary on March 12, who is expected to be Donald J Trump, is the preferred nominee, and the delegates are bound to cast their votes for this candidate. However, if no Republican Presidential candidate at the Republican National Convention receives a least 1,235 of 2,469 delegates in the first round of voting, then delegates are no longer required to vote for the winner of the Washington State 2024 Presidential Primary.
Below are key dates for Republicans leading to the 2024 General Election:
- Republican County Conventions – January 20 – March 16, 2024
- 2024 Presidential Primary Election – March 12, 2024 (U.S. President only)
- 2024 Republican State Convention – April 18-20, 2024
- Republican National Convention – July 15-18, 2024
- WA State Primary Election – August 6, 2024 (Local, state, and federal races other than U.S. President)
- WA State General Election – November 5, 2024 (Presidential, Local, state, and federal races)
Real Clear Politics 2024 Republican Presidential Polling Data
According to the latest Real Clear Politics aggregate 2024 Republican Presidential polling data from several pollsters as of January 18, the 45th President of the United States President Donald J Trump is leading the nearest challenger, Nikki Haley, by 54.6 points. Currently, Trump leads with 66.1%, Haley with 11.5%, DeSantis with 10.5%, and Ramaswamy with 4.3%.
Real Clear Politics President Biden Polling Data
According to the latest Real Clear Politics aggregate 2024 President Biden Job Approval polling data from several pollsters as of January 18, Biden at a 56.2% disapproval rate.
2024 General Election: Trump vs. Biden
According to the latest Real Clear Politics aggregate 2024 General Election: Trump vs Biden polling data from several pollsters as of January 18, the 45th President of the United States President Donald J Trump is leading President Biden by 2 points with 46.6% to Biden’s 44.6%.
Article updated 12:10 p.m., January 20, 2024, to reflect caucus results from Island and Spokane counties.
Author: Mario Lotmore
