DEWEY BEACH, Del. (AP) - Delaware Republicans have overwhelmingly approved the state party's slate of delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Sixteen delegates and 13 alternates were approved at the state party's convention Saturday with only eight dissenting votes out of almost 300 cast.
Under party rules, the delegates must support billionaire businessman Donald Trump, who won Delaware's primary, on the first ballot at the national convention.
Rob Arlett, Trump's state campaign chairman, urged fellow Delawareans to rally around Trump, who Arlett said is the only Republican who can beat Hillary Clinton.
While Delaware GOP chairman Charlie Copeland thinks Trump will win the requisite number of delegates to earn the nomination outright, Arlett believes that if the convention does go to a second ballot, 15 of Delaware's 16 delegates will remain with Trump.
Virginia
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has won the support of a majority of delegates up for grabs at a GOP convention in Virginia, delegates that could help decide the Republican presidential nominee if there's a contested national convention this summer.
Cruz supporters won 10 of the 13 at-large delegates elected Saturday at the Republican Party of Virginia's statewide convention at James Madison University in Harrisonburg.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump won the other three.
Cruz's victory will only matter if he can block Trump from clinching the nomination before the national convention in July. Virginia delegates will only be free to support whomever they choose after the first round of voting at the national convention.
