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Clark County GOP sets after-sundown caucus for religious groups
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
The Clark County Republican Party announced Monday that it will hold a special GOP presidential caucus after sundown on Feb. 4 for Jews and members of other faiths that consider the day sacred. The evening meeting is scheduled to be on the same Saturday as daytime caucuses for all other Republicans in the county and Nevada.
The decision means the final results of the GOP caucus in Nevada's largest county won't be released until after the post-sundown meeting is over, delaying the news about who won the Silver State.
Most Clark County Republicans will caucus starting at 9 a.m., probably finishing the meetings within a few hours after voting for their presidential favorites and electing delegates to the county convention. The presidential poll will determine who won the most support and delegates.
The after-sundown caucus is scheduled to open its doors at 6 p.m. to register Jews, Seventh-day Adventists and others whose religion prevents them from meeting during the day. The caucus will start at 7 p.m., allowing participants to vote for their presidential preference but not elect delegates.
The special party meeting with be held at the Adelson Educational Campus, a private school in Summerlin named for Sands Corps. Chairman Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. The Jewish casino mogul pushed for the post-sundown caucus. He is a big money backer of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the rising conservative threat to Mitt Romney, who is considered the favorite to win Nevada. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas also has an aggressive campaign organization here.
"The Republican Party is making every effort possible to provide an opportunity for those of all religious beliefs to participate in the caucus during this crucial election year," said Dave Gibbs, chair of the county party. "It is our responsibility to encourage as much participation as possible in this process."
The Clark County GOP decision was made over the weekend by party leaders. It aligns with the state GOP's proposal to allow an at-large caucus after sundown on Feb. 4 for religious observers. Previously, the county had suggested holding a Feb. 2 caucus for the faithful, but state GOP leaders and most of the presidential campaigns weren't happy holding a special caucus on a different day.
On Feb. 4, Nevada Republican Party leaders are considering releasing "rolling updates" of caucus results from each of Nevada's 17 counties as precinct totals are reported to the state party. But the full results of the Feb. 4 caucuses to determine who won Nevada by getting the most votes in the presidential preference poll won't be available until after Clark County reports.
Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.
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It's an at-large caucus. Any one can attend. I already know how my precinct will vote. Also, have a good idea that the Gingrich folks are behind this. Actually it is a good idea since a Saturday caucus would exclude devout Jews, Adventists, etc. That said, it is inconvenient for me to attend on Saturday morning since I did not know when the exact caucus date would be when I bought a non-refundable ticket and won't get into Las Vegas until that afternoon. I'm going to sign up to speak and run for delegate. This is going to be fun!
The Saturday night "caucus" has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with promoting the candidacy of serial hypocrite, Newt Gingrich. Adelson doesn't seem to have a problem keeping his gambling operation open on the Sabbath Day but objects to attending a Precinct meeting/Caucus on Saturday. He didn't object to the Precinct meetings in 2010 or 2008 being held on the Lord's Day. How come now? Answer: He bought Newt lock, stock and barrel!
@BGHS I will give you that. I am in between on Lybia. I did not want to sit and watch Mommar kill and pillage his own people. However I do not think we should have footed the bill. So far it has worked out. FYI Reagan DID NOT ask permission when he sent a squadron of F-111's in the 1980's. I just do not see Obama's "war chest" 75% of the monies he has spent (on war) were for wars under way when he took over. Having been in Iraq we KNEW there were no WMD's. WASTE of time, soldiers, and money
@Peter Griffen...I was unaware that anyone here has accused Obama of starting a war here. Yes, troops were on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan the day he took office, but he was the one who authorized strikes on Lybia. The fact that we aren't at war with Lybia just makes it that much more disgusting.
I was unaware Obama "STARTED" any war. Troops were on the ground in Iraq and Afganistan the day he took office. Is there another war? Otherwise the Bush/Obama involvement in Afganistan cannot fall completely on his shoulders
And Obama's billion dollar war chest doesn't come with strings attached for his supporters?
Tired of the money, lies and distortions?
Ready for common sense yet?
Ron Paul 2012
This man Adelson just gave Newt 5 million dollars to continue running in South Carolina. Before that, Newt was going to have to drop our for lack of funds. What happened to this country? When did we get to a point where one man could literally have so much influence on the People's Presidential race! Legal? Yes! Morally corrupt? Yes! This stinks of insider influence and conflict of interest and citizens of Nevada should demand that this not happen...period!
Are those creepy Republicans again violating NRS -- and indeed their own bylaws -- by calling this "specially scheduled & located" caucus?
1) Is the CCGOP providing sufficient *newspaper* advertising notice of this event (NRS 293.135 §'s 3/4)?
2) Is Summerlin a "reasonable" proximity to all the Clark County GOP precincts?
Isn't this special caucus just a pretext to:
1) get as many (BIG Government) Jews out to the caucus as possible in order to dilute the support for the one candidate perceived to be "less government"?
2) get those same individuals out to the county/state conventions (also held on the Sabbath?) to support Neocon, GOP platform positions favoring US attacks on Iran and indeed, the rest of the world?
3) delay official announcement of the results of the caucus -- where the less government candidate is expected to do quite well -- to the point where the MSM will feel no competitive pressure to report it at all?
Wow! So this is how much clout Adelson has????