Hillary Clinton won the Democratic primary in Washington state Tuesday, though she technically got no closer to becoming the party’s 2016 presidential nominee.
With 74 percent of the vote counted, the former first lady had 54 percent of the vote, to rival Sen. Bernard Sanders’ 46 percent.
However, the primary was largely a beauty contest, as Washington already had allocated its delegates to the Democratic National Convention in March caucuses. Mr. Sanders won that contest handily, taking 74 of the state’s delegates, to Mrs. Clinton’s 27.
Sill, Mrs. Clinton remains on track to reach the needed 2,383 delegates, having 2,305 to Mr. Sanders’ 1,539 with hundreds at stake in California and four other states wrap up the 2016 presidential primaries on June 7.
That 2,305 number includes an overwhelming advantage among superdelegates — Democratic officeholders and officials free to vote for whomever they want. But even if only pledged delegates are counted, Mrs. Clinton has a healthy lead that, given how the Democratic Party allocates delegates proportionately, Mr. Sanders is unlikely to be able to make up on June 7.
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