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The Spectacle Blog
Since Las Vegas rivals New York as the city that never sleeps, the Nevada GOP finally announced Saturday’s full Republican caucus results earlier today:
Mitt Romney 16,486 50.1%
Newt Gingrich 6,956 21.1%
Ron Paul 6,175 18.8%
Rick Santorum 3,277 10%
It’s noteworthy that Mitt Romney cobbled together a bare majority, though he was down slightly from his 2008 percentage. Ron Paul finished behind Newt Gingrich despite improving his vote percentage by a few points from four years ago. But the results represent Paul’s smallest growth in vote totals from the last campaign by far.
UPDATE: A former Nevada GOP county official makes some relevant points in the comments thread.
View all comments (10) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/02/06/the-nevada-caucus-results
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Clint| 2.6.12 @ 4:49PM
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
Deny The Ruling Elites' RINO-CINO Frontman, Mittens Romney Enough Delegates And Head To A Brokered Convention.
Vote For Gingrich.
Vote For Santorum.
Vote For Paul.
Time To Grab Delegates & Rebel Against Romney Before March 6th Super-Tuesday.
HH| 2.6.12 @ 4:53PM
Mr. Antle, please respond. Are those raw Nevada vote numbers above?
This is pitiful if so. 16,000 voters for the one with half the votes cast his way?
Means the overwhelming majority of registered Republicans did not even bother.
Please write a story on that.
16,000? That's like statistically worthless. My college's auditorium/arena had a seating and standing capacity of nearly that.
Please do what others do not -- put it in context. Place the raw vote numbers next to the adult voting age population of Nevada AND the believed number of adult registered Republicans.
That is the story.
W. James Antle III | 2.6.12 @ 5:14PM
HH,
Nevada is a caucus state, not a primary. Caucuses tend to be low-turnout events because it is a more involved process than simply showing up, voting, and leaving. But this was low turnout even compared to previous caucuses.
Howard Hirsch| 2.7.12 @ 12:49AM
Not entirely true. Many participants showed up, cast their votes, and left, although you are still correct that total attendance was quite poor.
I live in Nevada and attended my caucus on Saturday. I would like to correct a few of the misinterpretations of what transpired:
1) Yes, the Nevada GOP was pretty incompetent in counting the ballots and reporting the results. However, it must be emphasized that the vote was simply a preference poll that has no statutory authorization. The party conducted it in order to drum up the turnout. Therefore, there really can't be any lawsuit regarding the outcome or the manner in which the votes were counted. Same thing in Iowa.
2) The ONLY purpose of the caucus by statute is the reorganization of the state GOP for the next two years. Caucuses elected delegates to county conventions, which in turn will elect delegates to the state convention in Sparks in late April, which in turn will choose Nevada's delegates to the 2012 GOP National Convention. And of course, resolutions and party platforms will be adopted at every stage of the process. The state party has no obligation to conduct the preference poll, and did so only starting in 2008. In fact, they charged candidates $10K to have their names listed. Clever Nevada GOP--are you watching, Iowa?
3) The MSM both locally and nationally is having a great time gloating about the poor turnout and how this bodes ill for the GOP in Nevada. Of course, they never compare it to the turnout at the Dem caucuses last month, which I believe was about 12,500 statewide, compared to over 100,000 in 2008.
4) The Clark County GOP blundered big time by holding the special Saturday night caucus and requiring a religious test for the legions of orthodox Jewish Republicans in the Las Vegas area. One can make the case that this discriminated against others similarly situated. After all, there must be thousands in Elko, Battle Mountain, and Winnemucca alone! Why, I know of at least three here in Lyon County, two of whom served as GOP county chairman in recent years!
5) Before 2008, we held caucuses on weekday nights. Time to go back to that.
Howard Hirsch
chairman, Lyon County Republican Central Committee, 2007-08
Dayton, Nevada
Mark LeRette| 2.7.12 @ 11:38AM
Iowa runs the Ames Straw Poll, which raises hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars for the State GOP as well as pumping millions more into the local/state economy.
As part of that event, candidates bid on spaces around the outside of the Coliseum to set up their tents, etc. Most candidates will drop 2-4 times that $10,000 amount just on renting their space.
Mark LeRette
Chairman
Muscatine County (IA) GOP
HH| 2.7.12 @ 3:51PM
Mr. Antle, I am not sure that you will see this, but thank you for responding yesterday.
I just wish that more effort were used by writers like you (and the many others who cover these state-by-state events) to place it all in context.
1. What does a result mean in terms of delegate count.
2 . Raw numbers versus previous years and current voter age populations.
3. Differences in primaries (open, closed, etc.), differences in caucuses.
4. Rules in states like the one that Virginia just jettisoned (I believe). There was to be a mandatory loyalty oath signing. When things like this are in place in a state's voting, this impacts turnout bigtime.
We all need to understand better that this state-by-state process is not like major league sports contests that are simply another Arabic numeral in the W or L column. Some results are significant; others are close to meaningless.
I will have to spend some time looking at raw numbers. But I believe (I could be wrong) that only South Carolina -- so far -- can claim a reasonably healthy turnout of voters.
Clearly, despite the slump, stagnation, poor economy, joblessness, etc, clearly, despite all of this, so far -- people are opting out/not bothering to go cast a vote.
My hunch? Sure, this is a measurement of voter apathy. But the bigger issue is that nobody believes in any of these candidates.
I mean that. My thesis statement: Many folks haven't the slightest trust in any of them.
Thank you for responding. Please continue to do this with good readers who make good, useful comments. That livens this site. Thank you as well to the gentlemen commenting from Iowa and Nevada.
Bill| 2.6.12 @ 5:25PM
The leader of "Mormon Cult" and the "New England big-government liberal RINO" Mitten Romney is about to destroy the GOP, as soon as he secures the nominee. Welcome to the club of losers: Gerald Ford in 1976, G.W. Bush in 1992, and McCain in 2008, and the "Last Establishment RINO" candidate Mitten Romney in 2012 (?)
Marco2| 2.6.12 @ 9:33PM
As a devotee of the Moron Cult you are cordially invited to join the complement of the first lunar colony by his self-appointed Highness, the King of the Moon. And after RINO Mitt quickly disposes of WINO Rick (pick me! pick me!), the GOP will be in steady, legitimate, competent, qualified hands once again.
Clint| 2.6.12 @ 9:46PM
RINO-CINO Romney Wants To Index The Minimum Wage.
"Indexing the minimum wage would be an absolute job killer," Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said. "Mitt Romney's proposal is anti-growth and would harm our economy. It's disappointing to hear that the leading candidate for the Republican nomination believes that the government can set the price of labor better than the free market."
Rob Seabrook| 2.7.12 @ 6:56AM
And we can be sure there was no voter fraud in this one. Yeah, right.