Nevada Democratic caucuses, 2008

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The 2008 Nevada Democratic Caucuses took place on January 19, 2008^[1] after having been moved from a later date by the Nevada Democratic Party.^[2] The Democratic caucus was considered important in determining the eventual party nominee. Many described the state's caucus as the "Bellwether of the West" as it is the first western state to vote in the Democratic primaries.

Nevada's twenty-five "pledged" delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were chosen on May 17, when the party had its state convention.^[3] There are 14 national delegates for Obama and 11 for Clinton.

[edit] Process

The Nevada Democratic caucus was open to all voters who would be 18 by November 4, 2008, regardless of party. Republicans, unaffiliated voters, and members of other parties could change their registration at the door, and new voters could register as well.^[4]

As with all Democratic caucuses, voters gathered into preference groups for each candidate. A minimum threshold of 15% was required in each precinct in order to achieve viability. If a candidate preference group was unviable, they chose to caucus with another group, or be uncommitted. Unlike the Iowa caucus, "raiding" of other, already viable caucus groups, was prohibited.^[5] Delegates to the county convention were then selected amongst the candidate groups. A similar process occurred at the county convention. Although they file statements of support for their chosen candidate, all delegates are technically unbound until the state convention.

In addition to the 1,754 neighborhood caucus locations, nine at-large caucus locations were available for shift workers who could not return to their home precincts to caucus. These at-large precincts were at the Wynn, Bellagio, The Mirage, Paris Las Vegas, New York-New York, Flamingo, Caesars Palace, and The Rio, all located in Clark County.^[6] Workers who worked within 2.5 miles of the caucus site, were scheduled to work during or within one hour of the caucus period, and have an employer ID showing their employment in the zone were permitted to attend. Unlike regular caucuses, where delegates are apportioned based on registered voters, the at-large locations were allocated based on attendance, which caused controversy (see below).^[7]

The state party reported county convention delegate totals to the media and not actual votes, similar to the state Democratic party at Iowa.

[edit] Pre-caucus events, predictions, and polls

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the January Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008#Nevada

The date of the Nevada caucuses were moved from a later date to January 19, 2008. Analysts from CNN believe that this occurred because of many factors, such as the growing West, a large Hispanic population, a heavily unionized work force, the influence of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and the idea that earlier caucuses increase voter participation. In addition, Democrats in the working class hold sway over liberal activists; this would allow candidates to discuss practical issues and policy details.^[8]

After Barack Obama's win at the Iowa Democratic caucuses and Hillary Clinton's win at the New Hampshire Democratic primary, the Nevada Democratic caucuses were seen as a potential tie-breaker. A victory in these caucus would provide a candidate momentum as nearly two dozen primaries on Super Tuesday approach. In addition, the Nevada caucuses were seen as a test of the organizing abilities of its unions and the growing influence of the state's Latino community, which makes up more than 20% of the population.^[9]

On January 9, 2008, Barack Obama received his first key national labor endorsement from leaders of the 450,000-member UNITE HERE union. This endorsement was made on behalf of Nevada's largest union, the 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, Local 226.^[10] As a result, Obama received a huge boost in support from the Latino population.^[8]

A pre-caucus opinion poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on January 18, 2008, showed that Hillary Clinton was leading with 41% of the vote. Barack Obama had 32% of the vote, and John Edwards had 14%.^[9] Another poll by the American Research Group five days before the caucuses on January 14, 2008 showed that Clinton was leading with 35%, Obama had 32%, and Edwards had 25%.^[11] These polls only showed the results of the candidates that were viable to win the caucuses.

[edit] Casino caucus lawsuit

An "at-large precinct" is officiated in Caesars Palace on election day.

In an attempt to block nine at-large caucus precincts from being held on Las Vegas Strip, the Nevada State Education Association and six Las Vegas area residents filed a 13 page lawsuit on January 11, 2008. The at-large sites were created to facilitate the caucus participation of casino workers, and others working within 2.5 miles of the Strip, but the plaintiffs said that these sites would both elect more state delegates than others and violate state election law.^[12] While the suit was not officially supported by any presidential campaign, the fact that it was filed two days after the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 endorsed Obama and that several of the State Education Association's leaders endorsed Clinton led some political commentators to describe it as a proxy battle between the two campaigns.^[13]

After a court hearing, Judge James Mahan of the U.S District Court for Nevada ruled that the caucus locations were fair and valid and disagreed with the group's argument. Therefore, the 9 caucus sites located in casinos in Las Vegas were allowed to operate.^[14]

[edit] Voter demographics

According to the Associated Press, 75.2% of voters were White, 6.8% were Black, 4.5% were Asian, 1.3% were American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.4% were native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 3.8% were of a mixed race, and 8.0% were of a different race.^[8]

[edit] Results

See also: Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries

County by county results. Dark blue counties were won by Barack Obama, light blue counties were won by Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton won the most local delegates while Barack Obama was projected to win the most delegates to the national nominating convention. Nevada's delegates to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will not be allocated to the candidates for a few months, so current DNC delegate projections assume that local and state delegate preferences remain the same through the county conventions, which occur in February, and the state convention, which occurs in April. ^[15] The reason for the so-called "split-decision"^[16] is Nevada's chosen method of electing DNC delegates. Six distinct sets of pledged DNC delegates will be elected in April. The three sets determined exclusively by Clark County delegates will be split evenly, for a total of 6 for Obama and 6 for Clinton. The statewide pot will be split 5 for Clinton and 4 for Obama. Obama's advantage is due to his strength in Northern Nevada: Of Washoe County's 3 DNC delegates Obama will get 2, and the 1 "Rural" DNC delegate will be an Obama supporter as well.

Unlike the Iowa caucus, Nevada's state Democratic Party reports only the number of county convention delegates won statewide by supporters of the candidates (in Iowa "state delegate equivalents" are reported). In neither Iowa nor Nevada are individual voter preferences reported. And like Iowa, all local delegates selected in the January 19 caucuses are technically free to support any candidate during later stages of the nominating process.^{[17] [18]}

At the controversial At-Large caucuses on the Vegas Strip, many workers who belonged to unions other than Local 226 attended; contrary to the statements of President Bill Clinton leading up to the vote,^[19] all workers on shift within 2.5 miles were permitted to caucus.^[20] Clinton supporters won the Strip, 268 local delegates to 224.^[20] Widely publicized statements by President Clinton that voters in "casinos" would have at least 5 times the influence of other voters^[19] turned out to be incorrect; Strip voters had only twice the influence that voters in the rest of the state on average had.^[21]

[edit] Precinct caucuses

Convention date: January 19, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 25)

[edit] County conventions

All of Nevada's county conventions took place on February 23, but one county's convention (Clark County) had attendance that overwhelmed its ability to continue. That convention was therefore recessed to April 12.^[24]

Convention dates: February 23–April 12, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 0 (of 25)

[edit] State convention

Convention date: May 17, 2008

National pledged delegates determined: 25 (of 25)

[edit] See also

• Democratic Party (United States) presidential primaries, 2008
• Nevada Republican caucuses, 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nevada Democratic Party
• Official website
• Real-time Results