Subject: Politico: GOP likely to revoke Nevada's early-state status
From: "Garcia, Walter" <[email-masked]>
To: Comm_D <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 8 May 2016 10:21:48 -0700

GOP likely to revoke Nevada's early-state status
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/nevada-gop-early-state-status-222929

The RNC’s Rules Committee is expected to address the issue of Nevada's voting slot when it convenes in July prior to the national convention in Cleveland. | Getty

GOP likely to revoke Nevada's early-state status

'Nevada does nothing for us,' says one RNC committeeman.

By Kyle Cheney<http://www.politico.com/staff/kyle-cheney>

05/08/16 07:54 AM EDT

Nevada is likely to lose its place as the first Western state to vote in the Republican presidential nomination contest, several GOP leaders tell POLITICO.

For three successive elections, the state has been grouped in the vaunted class of early-voting states, joining Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as the bellwethers that garner the most attention from presidential candidates and help winnow voters’ choices. But for the third straight primary season, Nevada’s caucuses have been wracked by embarrassing procedural errors<http://www.mediaite.com/online/shtshow-political-twitter-flooded-with-problems-arising-from-nevada-caucuses/>, low turnout, confusion among attendees<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/nevada-caucuses-republicans-219594> and questions about the integrity of the process<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72480_Page2.html>.

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Republican National Committee members say there’s growing momentum behind an effort to strip Nevada of its early place in line — handing it instead to either Colorado or Arizona.

“The long knives are out for Nevada,” said one RNC committeeman. “Nevada does nothing for us.”

The review of the state’s pecking order is likely to be just one piece of the GOP’s wholesale review of a nominating process that just produced one of the most acrimonious primary seasons in memory and ended with Donald Trump as the party’s nominee.

The RNC’s Rules Committee is expected to address the issue when it convenes in July prior to the national convention in Cleveland. And its recommendations will be passed to a committee of convention delegates that has the ultimate say.

The early states are the subject of perennial debate among Republican leaders, who wonder whether they’re the best suited to thin the field of presidential contenders. Texas’s GOP chairman Tom Mechler and Utah RNC Committeewoman Enid Mickelsen proposed in January to eliminate all four early states’ protected status – and they’ve been targeted before. Typically, those debates fade once the presidential nomination process is over – and the presumptive GOP nominee generally defends these states’ hallowed position.

But Nevada, a state where Trump crushed rivals by more than 20 percentage points, is unlikely to escape the axe this time, Republican leaders argue.

“They will not tamper with the [broader] rule,” said one national convention delegate and veteran Republican leader. “But Nevada is likely to go.

Bruce Hough, Utah’s RNC committeeman, supports eliminating all early states in favor of a randomized primary calendar. But he argued that Nevada, in particular, hasn’t earned its status.

“You have to demonstrate that you have a solid political organization, which your party is capable of running,” he said. Hough noted that Nevada’s neighbors came to its aid in 2012 to help the state through its caucus woes. “It was almost like a shadow party there four years ago,” he said. “There are a bunch of issues they have to resolve.”

Nevada GOP chairman Michael McDonald did not respond to requests for comment. But not all Nevada GOP leaders are planning to go quietly. Nevada’s RNC Committeewoman Diana Orrock said she’s open to an early-state rotation – but only if it applies to all four regions of the country. She’d fight any effort to single out Nevada for punishment.

“I will vigorously fight against that because it should be equally applied,” she said. Noting that the state only has six electoral votes, Orrock added, “If we don’t have early carve-out status, candidates aren’t going to bother coming to Nevada.”

Not all Nevadans are surprised they’d be in the party’s crosshairs.

“As much as I would hate to see the caucus stripped from NV, given how hard many of us worked to get it, the concern is understandable,” said Peter Ernaut, a veteran Nevada GOP strategist who’s advised Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. John Ensign. “Maybe it's time to take the microphone away until some level of civility returns. I am tired of my home state being a public spectacle. Nevada is better than this.”

Most RNC members contacted declined to be named to avoid antagonizing colleagues in Nevada, but seven interviewed agreed that momentum is growing to box out Nevada from the 2020 early-state group.

“They had that embarrassment four years ago when they couldn’t figure out who won,” said one RNC committeeman. “As a state they have little credibility with other members.”

Instead, RNC members are looking for a state with more strategic value. Like Nevada, Colorado and Arizona feature large Latino populations. And Colorado, in particular, has become a crucial swing state in the general election. Though Nevada, too, is considered a swing state, its caucuses – 130 locations across 17 counties this year – lend themselves to low turnout and do little to build up the Republican Party for the fall campaign, the RNC officials argued.

Colorado is preparing to vie for the opportunity to supplant Nevada.

“We are absolutely working on the strategy to try to put ourselves in that position,” said Colorado GOP chairman Steve House.

House has pushed state lawmakers to enact legislation establishing a statewide presidential primary, which he said RNC members would view favorably. The bill is being actively considered by lawmakers but has only cleared early procedural hurdles.

House said Colorado Democrats are generally on board as well. “If we can turn this into a presidential primary state, then we can make a very good case for being the first state in the West,” he said.

Hough, the Utah RNC committeeman, said other states should be in the mix too – including his own.

“If you want to reward Republicanism, then why not Utah that has had a great string of Republican governors and dominant state legislatures?” he wondered. “I don’t hold any hope that little old Utah would be in the mix. But hey, I would certainly argue the case.”

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