Nevada Republican caucuses, 2008
Encyclopedia
The Nevada Republican caucuses, 2008 was held on January 19, the same day as the 2008 South Carolina Republican primary
, with 31 delegates at stake. Mitt Romney
was the winner in Nevada
with 51% of the votes, with Ron Paul
in second place. Half of Romney's votes came from Mormon
s, while two-thirds of the independent voters favored Paul. According to the Las Vegas Sun
, Republicans crossed over in large numbers to vote Democratic
; CNN
exit polls indicated that Republican voters made up 4% of the Democratic caucus
turnout.
caucus is a closed caucus open to those who were registered
30 days before the caucus date, and 17-year-olds who are eligible to vote in the general election
in November. As in most Republican caucuses, there are two components. First, delegates are elected from the attendees. These delegates represent the caucusgoers at the county conventions in March, and generally announce who they support for President, and why they should go to the county convention. Election of delegates is by show of hands. Then, a supporter of each campaign speaks on behalf of their candidate. Finally, a straw poll
, called a presidential preference poll, is taken of the individuals in the room. This preference poll is a secret ballot
with candidate names printed on them.
Although the news media report the results of the straw poll, and assigns delegates proportionally based on it, in Nevada it is the county conventions and the state convention which determine who actually goes to the Republican National Convention
. Thus, all delegates are unbound until the state convention in April, although they generally will represent the preferences expressed by fellow Republicans in the straw poll.
campaigned hard in Nevada, while the other leading Republican candidates, John McCain
and Mike Huckabee
, focused on South Carolina
during the run-up to January 19. The Republican party did not cut Nevada's delegates to the national convention in half; therefore, Nevada had more delegates at stake than South Carolina. He was expected to benefit from Nevada's large Mormon
population.
A poll ahead of the election predicted John McCain to win the election with 22 percent, followed by Rudy Giuliani (18 percent),
Mike Huckabee (16 percent), Mitt Romney (15 percent), Fred Thompson (11 percent) and Ron Paul (6 percent).
On January 17, Ron Paul's Nevada campaign representatives warned state GOP officials that thousands of caucus goers had been given incorrect information on where to go to caucus. Party officials addressed the problem with a message on the Nevada GOP website that morning, two days before the caucus.
withdrew his bid for the nomination.
Although delegates were not pledged to candidates until the state convention, the news media allocated delegates proportionally for reporting purposes.
South Carolina Republican primary, 2008
The South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 was held on January 19, with 24 delegates at stake. The Republican National Committee took half of South Carolina's 47 delegates away from them because the state committee moved its Republican primary before February 5...
, with 31 delegates at stake. Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
was the winner in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
with 51% of the votes, with Ron Paul
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
in second place. Half of Romney's votes came from Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
s, while two-thirds of the independent voters favored Paul. According to the Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Sun
The Las Vegas Sun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. It is one of Las Vegas, Nevada's two daily newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group....
, Republicans crossed over in large numbers to vote Democratic
Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. presidential election...
; CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
exit polls indicated that Republican voters made up 4% of the Democratic caucus
Nevada Democratic caucuses, 2008
The Nevada Democratic Presidential Caucuses took place on January 19, 2008 after having been moved from a later date by the Nevada Democratic Party...
turnout.
Process
The Nevada Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
caucus is a closed caucus open to those who were registered
Voter registration
Voter registration is the requirement in some democracies for citizens and residents to check in with some central registry specifically for the purpose of being allowed to vote in elections. An effort to get people to register is known as a voter registration drive.-Centralized/compulsory vs...
30 days before the caucus date, and 17-year-olds who are eligible to vote in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
in November. As in most Republican caucuses, there are two components. First, delegates are elected from the attendees. These delegates represent the caucusgoers at the county conventions in March, and generally announce who they support for President, and why they should go to the county convention. Election of delegates is by show of hands. Then, a supporter of each campaign speaks on behalf of their candidate. Finally, a straw poll
Straw poll
A straw poll or straw vote is a vote with nonbinding results. Straw polls provide dialogue among movements within large groups, reflecting trends like organization and motivation...
, called a presidential preference poll, is taken of the individuals in the room. This preference poll is a secret ballot
Secret ballot
The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voter's choices in an election or a referendum are anonymous. The key aim is to ensure the voter records a sincere choice by forestalling attempts to influence the voter by intimidation or bribery. The system is one means of achieving the goal of...
with candidate names printed on them.
Although the news media report the results of the straw poll, and assigns delegates proportionally based on it, in Nevada it is the county conventions and the state convention which determine who actually goes to the Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
. Thus, all delegates are unbound until the state convention in April, although they generally will represent the preferences expressed by fellow Republicans in the straw poll.
Campaign
Republican candidate Mitt RomneyMitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
campaigned hard in Nevada, while the other leading Republican candidates, John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Mike Huckabee
Mike Huckabee
Michael "Mike" Dale Huckabee is an American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate in the 2008 United States Republican presidential primaries, finishing second in delegate count and third in both popular vote and number of states won . He won...
, focused on South Carolina
South Carolina Republican primary, 2008
The South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 was held on January 19, with 24 delegates at stake. The Republican National Committee took half of South Carolina's 47 delegates away from them because the state committee moved its Republican primary before February 5...
during the run-up to January 19. The Republican party did not cut Nevada's delegates to the national convention in half; therefore, Nevada had more delegates at stake than South Carolina. He was expected to benefit from Nevada's large Mormon
Mormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
population.
A poll ahead of the election predicted John McCain to win the election with 22 percent, followed by Rudy Giuliani (18 percent),
Mike Huckabee (16 percent), Mitt Romney (15 percent), Fred Thompson (11 percent) and Ron Paul (6 percent).
On January 17, Ron Paul's Nevada campaign representatives warned state GOP officials that thousands of caucus goers had been given incorrect information on where to go to caucus. Party officials addressed the problem with a message on the Nevada GOP website that morning, two days before the caucus.
Results
Romney's win in Nevada extended the lead that he then held in total delegates. After coming last in this caucus, Duncan HunterDuncan Hunter
Duncan Lee Hunter is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California's 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981 to 2009....
withdrew his bid for the nomination.
Although delegates were not pledged to candidates until the state convention, the news media allocated delegates proportionally for reporting purposes.
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitt Romney Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008 Mitt Romney was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election. On January 3, 2007, two days before he stepped down as governor of Massachusetts, Romney filed to form a presidential exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission... |
22,649 | 51.1% | 18 |
| Ron Paul Ron Paul presidential campaign, 2008 Ron Paul was a Republican Party primary candidate in the 2008 United States presidential election.Initial opinion polls during the first three quarters of 2007 showed Ron Paul consistently receiving support from 3% or less of those polled... |
6,087 | 13.73% | 4 |
| John McCain John McCain presidential campaign, 2008 John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona, launched his second candidacy for the presidency of the United States in an unsuccessful bid to win the 2008 presidential election. His candidacy, in the works for a number of years, was informally announced on February 28, 2007 during a... |
5,651 | 12.75% | 4 |
| Mike Huckabee Mike Huckabee presidential campaign, 2008 Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for the 2008 presidential election in the United States on January 28, 2007... |
3,616 | 8.16% | 2 |
| Fred Thompson Fred Thompson presidential campaign, 2008 Fred Thompson was a Republican Party primary candidate to represent his party in the 2008 United States presidential election. Thompson has worked as a lawyer, lobbyist, and character actor, and he represented Tennessee as a Republican in the U.S... |
3,521 | 7.94% | 2 |
| Rudy Giuliani Rudy Giuliani presidential campaign, 2008 Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign began following the formation of the Draft Giuliani movement in October 2005. The next year, Giuliani opened an exploratory committee and formally announced in February 2007 that he was actively seeking the presidential nomination of the Republican... |
1,910 | 4.31% | 1 |
| Duncan Hunter Duncan Hunter presidential campaign, 2008 Fourteen-term Congressman and Vietnam War veteran Duncan Hunter of California announced his intentions to run for the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States in January 2007. He focused his campaign on the issues of border security, trade, and the war on terrorism... |
890 | 2.01% | 0 |
| Total | 44,324 | 100% | 31 |
See also
- Nevada Democratic caucuses, 2008Nevada Democratic caucuses, 2008The Nevada Democratic Presidential Caucuses took place on January 19, 2008 after having been moved from a later date by the Nevada Democratic Party...
- Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008The 2008 Republican presidential primaries were the selection process by which voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 U.S. presidential election...