OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Republicans gather in homes, churches and town halls across the state for Washington’s GOP presidential caucuses, the first meaningful party contests in recent memory.
While Saturday’s caucuses are a non-binding contest, state Republicans say it could create momentum for the four candidates on their last stop before Super Tuesday, where voting takes place in 10 states.
Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have all visited the state in recent weeks, some twice.
There are about 6,700 precincts in Washington, and Republicans have predicted up to 60,000 participants across the state on Saturday. Washington state will send 43 delegates to the national convention in Tampa in August, and the caucuses are the first in a multistep process to officially allocate 40 of those delegates to a candidate.
