Wanted: ‘Rock-star leader’ for Nevada Republican Party

By Anjeanette Damon

Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010 | 2 a.m.

Nevada Republicans logged some impressive victories last month. They recaptured the state’s swing congressional district, installed a popular and scandal-free candidate in the Governor’s Mansion and chipped away at the Democrats’ majority in the state Legislature.

But despite big talk in the early days of campaign 2010 about rebuilding the party, Republicans will end the year without the powerful statewide apparatus to continue delivering victories.

The lack of such an organization, a problem for the party since 2004, has sapped Republican voter rolls and prevented the party from exploiting opportunities such as ousting a weakened Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Yet another opportunity awaits the party: the 2012 presidential primary. Republicans could be in prime position to capitalize on the excitement expected to surround the next presidential race and follow the Democratic road map out of their organizational morass.

Consider:

• Nevada is expected to be the first state in the West — and the third in the nation — to hold a presidential primary contest in 2012.

• A bevy of contenders are laying the groundwork for a race, meaning the competition to take on President Barack Obama could be intense.

• Many of them — former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — toured the state this year.

Democrats provided a textbook case in how a party can take advantage of such a situation during Nevada’s first early presidential caucuses in 2008.

After sinking considerable resources into the party organization to simply administrate the caucuses, Democrats were able to use their new infrastructure to not only take a voter registration advantage away from Republicans, but also compile a list of hundreds of volunteers — a captain in nearly every precinct — and a database of thousands of Democrats eager to participate in the caucuses.

That organization helped the party achieve significant electoral gains in 2008 and largely held off a national Republican wave this year, including sparing Reid what appeared to be certain defeat.

Are Nevada Republicans poised to make a similar dramatic move?

Many, even within their ranks, are skeptical.

“I don’t know if we can,” Republican consultant Robert Uithoven said. “We don’t have someone like Harry Reid who can pick up the phone and ensure the dollars come this way. We have not had that kind of a figure, a rock-star leader of our party, in a long time.”

Indeed, while Republican presidential contenders may flood the state with political talent, organizational infrastructure and money, it won’t live past the caucus if local Republicans don’t have in-state leaders to maintain and manage it.

“The caucus was a huge undertaking,” said Kirsten Searer, who was the Nevada Democratic Party’s communications director in 2008. “People were skeptical nationally that the state party could pull it off. We needed an infusion of resources and, frankly, support to prove we could do it.

“We had a very large staff that worked nonstop for a year to set up the structure we needed throughout the state.”

Reid filled that role for Democrats.

Republicans’ best hope to bring both national attention and resources to the 2012 caucuses is Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval.

Before he took a hiatus from politics to serve as a federal judge, Sandoval had achieved some national stature. He likely will pick up where he left off.

But as the CEO of a state facing a budget crisis and other significant policy challenges that will dominate the next seven months, it’s unlikely he will have much time to devote to party-building. And during the 2010 campaign, Sandoval did little to aid the broader party, leading some to question whether he will put his energy into it now that he’s in office.

“Does he plan to lead the party? Does he care?” Uithoven said. “Does he just want to let the same people run it? Or does he want to get in there and take it over, so to speak, which is a significant responsibility?”

Sources close to Sandoval, who wasn’t available for an interview, said it’s a role he would likely relish but hasn’t had time to consider given his current tasks of preparing a budget and assembling an administration.

Should he find the time, Sandoval could elevate Nevada Republicans, and the effort could yield more than merely the gratitude of his fellow party members. As it has for Reid, it could position Sandoval for higher office.

Whether Sandoval jumps in and whether he can do it in time could determine whether the party is able to take advantage of its early caucuses.

Speaking from experience, Nevada Democrats understand that.

“They would certainly need a few champions who have national stature and could raise money,” Searer said.