SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — With Donald Trump emerging as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, some of the drama has been removed from the state GOP convention that opened in Pasco on Wednesday.

But important issues remain, such as selecting the state's 44 presidential delegates and getting more GOP votes in down-ticket races.

Party chairman Susan Hutchison says the GOP has had plenty of success electing state legislators recently, but less success in winning statewide elections.

The convention will pick Washington's delegates to the national GOP convention in Cleveland in July. But those delegates will not know who they are supporting until after the results of the Washington primary election set for next Tuesday. On the Washington ballot, Republicans can choose among Trump, and his former challengers Ted Cruz, John Kasich or Ben Carson.

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