May 10, 2016, 07:30 pm
Trump wins West Virginia as he marches
to nomination

By Jonathan Swan



Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is projected to win the West Virginia primary.

In the first contest since his competitors dropped out, Trump cruised to victory in what was expected to be prime territory for him.

West Virginia is demographically designed to be Trump country.

A heavily white and poor electorate burned by politicians who have too often ignored the Appalachians, West Virginians were susceptible to an outsider candidate who gleefully stuck his fingers in the eyes of Republican elites.

The only question looming over Tuesday's primary was the size of the protest vote against Trump.

A West Virginian vote for John Kasich or Ted Cruz could only be read as a sign of deep opposition to the party's presumptive nominee.

Cruz ended his presidential campaign last Tuesday after suffering a big loss to Trump in the Indiana primary. Katich dropped out a day later, clearing the path for Trump to become the GOP’s presumptive nominee.

Indiana was thought to be the last hope for anti-Trump forces to strike a blow against him.

Nebraska’s GOP primary is also Tuesday. Republicans go to the polls in Oregon and Washington state in the coming weeks.

The primary cycle finishes June 7 when six states vote, headlined by California.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/...-to-nomination