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Donald Trump Clinches GOP Nomination

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump now has the support of 1,238 delegates — just a hair above the 1,237 threshold needed to clinch the Republican presidential nomination, according to The Associated Press.

Trump was able to reach that number Thursday after 29 unbound Republican delegates told the AP that they would support him at the party's July convention. Fifteen of those unbound delegates came from North Dakota, seven from Pennsylvania, two each from West Virginia and Nevada and one each from Colorado, New Hampshire and Oklahoma (the unbound delegate who announced her support for Trump in this state is GOP chairwoman Pam Pollard).

Most Republican delegates are bound by the results of their states' presidential primary elections but as many as 200 are not bound by those rules.

Five states including California vote on June 7 with more than 300 delegates at stake. As the sole candidate left running on the GOP side, Trump will easily add to his slim delegate edge on that day.

Trump is now the Republican Party's presumptive nominee; he won't be the official nominee until the July convention in Cleveland when delegates vote. But Trump reaching the magic number caps the businessman's unlikely presidential run and rise and avoids further talk of a possible contested GOP convention.

Amita Kelly is a Washington editor, where she works across beats and platforms to edit election, politics and policy news and features stories.
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