LAS VEGAS — Political allies of the Paul family who stormed into power in Nevada four years ago have been swept aside — a relief to senior GOP leaders in a state hosting a key presidential primary.
In 2012, activists supportive of presidential candidate Ron Paul, then a Texas congressman, won top leadership posts throughout the Nevada GOP apparatus. Paul finished third in the state party’s presidential nominating caucuses, and his delegates to the national convention in Tampa joined a floor protest that publicly rebuked candidate Mitt Romney and changes to Republican National Committee rules that were implemented at his direction.
Fast-forward three years, and Paul’s libertarian rabble-rousers are gone from influential, county and state GOP leadership posts in Nevada. They weren’t expelled, just replaced in regularly scheduled elections. Their successors are veteran Silver State GOP operatives intent, they insist, on welcoming every Republican presidential contender who shows up in Nevada to campaign in the host of the fourth presidential nominating contest overall and first out west.
“Everybody has a voice; everybody has an opportunity,” Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, who was first elected to his first term five days before the national party’s 2012 convention, said in an interview. “People in Nevada are especially excited about having the candidates come here.”
A strong libertarian streak runs through Nevada’s Republican primary electorate, making the state fertile ground for Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a contender for the GOP nomination in 2016, just as it was for his father three years ago. Paul, who made sure to visit Nevada during his first campaign swing as a presidential candidate is considered a frontrunner to win the state’s delegates to the national nominating convention in Cleveland next July.
Paul appears to be in a better position in Nevada at this early stage than his father was because he has endeavored to broaden his appeal beyond the small but intensely loyal band of liberty activists that have supported father and son over the years. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker also is considered formidable in Nevada, and GOP sources say that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., could also threaten.
Some Paul supporters worry that a move by Nevada Republican leaders to replace the 2016 caucuses with a standard primary election could diminish the Kentucky senator’s prospects. Some Paul backers view this as the party’s way of diminishing Paul’s viability, an accusation GOP officials say is categorically false. A primary would attract a broader array of rank-and-file Republicans. Caucuses, where people meet publicly in small groups, tend to attract fewer, more committed voters.
In an email exchange with the Washington Examiner, the Paul campaign exhibited none of the doubts about the possible cancelation of the 2016 presidential caucuses that some of the candidates Nevada supporters have expressed. John Yob, Paul’s national political director, said the senator has support among primary voters across the Republican spectrum, and is primed to compete.
“Rand has strong support from libertarian-leaning Republicans because of his efforts in taking on the Washington machine on important issues such as privacy, government spending, and term limits on career politicians,” Yob said. “He also has broad appeal to Republicans who know he is reaching out to non-traditional GOP audiences and is the strongest candidate in most polling against Hillary Clinton. We are confident that he will do very well in Nevada regardless of what system is utilized.”
In the 2012 cycle, Ron Paul supporters won control of several crucial GOP leadership posts, including most senior positions in the Clark County (Las Vegas) Republican Party; the state executive committee and the RNC National Committeeman and Committeewoman. With the exception of Dave Buell, then the chairman of the Washoe County (Reno) GOP, longtime state Republican activists say Paul activists didn’t play well with others and used their power almost exclusively to boost Ron Paul.
The experience left its mark. As 2016 approaches, one concern among involved Republicans here is that the party won’t be able to put a tough primary in the rearview mirror and coalesce behind the eventual GOP presidential nominee. Donna Hash, a 61-year-old business owner from Las Vegas who attended a luncheon of the Spring Mountain Republican Women on Thursday, said she’s excited about the upcoming election, but also worried.
“Even if it’s not your top candidate, it’s our candidate and everybody has to work together. I think that’s where, sometimes, the GOP defeats itself,” she said.
