The 2008 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses was held on January 19, the same day as the 2008 South Carolina Republican primary, with 31 delegates at stake.

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

was the winner in

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

with 51% of the votes, with

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas' ...

in second place. Half of Romney's votes came from

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

s, while two-thirds of the independent voters favored Paul. According to the

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays from 1990 to 2005 and is now ...

, Republicans crossed over in large numbers to vote Democratic;

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

exit polls An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for ...

indicated that Republican voters made up 4% of the Democratic caucus turnout.

Process

The Nevada Republican Party caucus was a closed caucus open to those who were registered 30 days before the caucus date, and 17-year-olds who were eligible to vote in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

in November. As in most Republican caucuses, there were two components. First, precinct delegates were elected from the attendees. These delegates represented the caucusgoers at the county conventions in March, and generally announced who they support for president, and why they should go to the county convention. Election of delegates was by show of hands. Then, a supporter of each campaign spoke on behalf of their candidate. Finally, a

straw poll A straw poll, straw vote, or straw ballot is an ad hoc or unofficial voting, vote. It is used to show the popular opinion on a certain matter, and can be used to help politicians know the majority opinion and help them decide what to say in order ...

, called a ''presidential preference poll'', was taken of the individuals in the room. This preference poll was a

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

with candidate names printed on them. Although the news media reported the results of the straw poll and proportionally assigned delegates to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

based on it, no delegates were selected at the caucus. Under Nevada Republican Party rules, the precinct delegates would convene at county conventions on March 15, from which a smaller group of delegates would be selected for a state convention on April 26. The state convention would select 31 of Nevada's delegates to the national convention.

Campaign

Republican candidate

campaigned hard in Nevada, while the other leading Republican candidates,

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...

and

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...

, focused on

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

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

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 Hunter 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. Delegate selection to the national convention did not proceed as planned. By April 26, Romney had ended his campaign and endorsed McCain, hoping his supporters would do the same at the state convention. However, many delegates switched their support to Ron Paul instead. After Paul supporters successfully passed a rule change positioning themselves to send more Paul delegates to the national convention, the convention was recessed by its chairman, State Senator Bob Beers. The state convention failed to reconvene, and in July the twelve-member executive board of the Nevada Republican Party instead approved the slate of national delegates. All 34 voted for McCain at the national convention.

References

Notes

External links

Official website of Nevada Republican Caucus
{{U.S. presidential primaries

2008 Nevada elections