Some in GOP opposed to moving caucus

Michael J. Mishak

Monday, March 12, 2007 | 7:37 a.m.

Not so fast.

Nevada Republicans barely had a week to bask in the glory of their new early presidential caucus before some in their own party began pushing back, saying the decision to move the contest's date was misguided - and perhaps illegal.

Backed by the Silver State's top Republican brass, the state party's executive committee voted to shift the Republican caucus date ahead to Feb. 7, 2008, about 2 1/2 months earlier than previously scheduled.

The move, party officials say, will give Nevada Republicans an early voice in the nomination process and allow them to stay competitive with the state's Democrats, who moved their caucus to Jan. 19, second in the nation behind Iowa. (The Republican National Committee's rules preclude Nevada from moving earlier than Feb. 5 without losing delegates to the party's convention.)

Now some state legislators and conservative activists are decrying the decision as too little, too late.

With the caucus set for two days after Super Tuesday, when at least a dozen states - including California, Florida, New York and Texas - are expected to vote, the party's nominee will likely already be decided, they say. So why, they ask, spend more than $1 million on a contest that will be an afterthought?

Assemblyman Ty Cobb, R-Reno, said the focus on the presidential caucus will put Nevada Republicans at a disadvantage in state legislative races.

The entire Assembly and half the Senate is up for reelection in 2008.

"When you bring presidential candidates to Nevada they are going to start sucking the money out of the state," he said. "We should be concentrating all our efforts on taking back the Assembly, especially when we have limited resources."

Carson City conservative activist Chuck Muth said he expected the decision to rankle the party's grass-roots support.

Moreover, both Muth and Cobb questioned whether the state party's executive committee had the authority to move the caucus date without the approval of the state party's central committee, which is scheduled to meet April 21 in Carson City.

In fact, party officials and executive committee members interviewed by the Sun said they assumed the decision to move the caucus date was theirs to make. The vote was unanimous, members said.

"My understanding is that it's a done deal," said John Hambrick, chairman of the Clark County Republican Party. "But that's just my impression."

Heidi Smith, chairwoman of the Washoe County Republican Party, also expressed some doubt. "If we have to wait until April, so be it," she said.

The state's Republican congressmen, state Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio and Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey, are supporting the early caucus.

Beyond the legal questions, Cobb said the party is drifting without solid leadership and should have acted to install a permanent chairman before biting off the organizational and financial challenge of a presidential caucus. "We are languishing right now," he said.

As Muth put it: "The Nevada Republican Party would have to take a step up just to become irrelevant."

Former party Chairman Paul Adams resigned in January after a short, tumultuous tenure marked by infighting and lackluster fundraising.

Still, Republicans may have a bigger problem on their hands when it comes to the caucus.

"The majority of people just don't understand it," Smith said. "I'm going to have to draw up a giant chart to explain how the process works."