Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008 | 4:01 p.m.
Sen. Harry Reid declined to comment on a lawsuit brought to eliminate the at-large caucus sites that are designed to allow Strip casino workers to attend the caucus on Jan. 19.
In an e-mail, his spokesman said Reid would leave it to the courts. The statement comes as a surprise, given that Reid is the public face of a contest meant to insure minority and labor representation like that of Strip casino workers, and the lawsuit would seem to undermine the legitimacy of the caucus.
Reid's son, Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, is Clinton's state chairman.
Sen. Reid has not endorsed a candidate and at various times expressed disapproval at his son's early and active endorsement.
His refusal to support the state party, which approved the concept of the at-large plan in March before submitting to the Democratic National Committee for its approval in August, is certainly surprising.
However, Jon Summers, Sen. Reid's spokesman, said it wasn't really a "no comment."
In an e-mail to the Sun, Summers said: "We haven't seen the lawsuit yet but, given the politics at play, Sen. Reid is going to stay out of the middle of it and leave it to the courts."
Sun columnist Jon Ralston has been reporting this story all day and revealing new stuff to his e-mail newsletter subscribers.
For instance, some plaintiffs of the lawsuit were present at the meeting when the plan was agreed to. It passed unanimously. Ralston also reports that AFSCME may join the lawsuit. AFSCME has endorsed Clinton.
See tomorrow's Sun, and we'll blog more of Ralston's reporting later.
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