State Gives Dole 36%, Buchanan Second

Sen. Bob Dole, close to securing the Republican nomination for president, picked up more support Friday from Washington state.

Ten days after the March 5 state caucuses, the Republican Party announced that Dole finished with 36 percent of the vote in a nonbinding straw poll of mostly GOP activists. That was 8 percentage points higher than his closest competitor, commentator Pat Buchanan.

Publisher Steve Forbes, who dropped out of the race this week and endorsed Dole, finished at 22 percent.

The final tally, based on nearly complete returns, was similar to post-caucus projections by the Dole campaign and The Associated Press.

The state Republican Party is allocating 18 of its 36 delegates in a complex process that began with the caucuses. The other 18 will be chosen after the March 26 primary.

Party officials declined to project how the 18 delegates that were up for grabs will be shared, because the process won’t be completed until the state convention in May. But based on the percentages, Dole organizers said the Senate majority leader should pick up at least seven delegates.