Jeb Bush coming to Las Vegas again to raise money for Clark County GOP

By Kyle Roerink

Monday, May 4, 2015 | 10:32 a.m.

Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, will be in Las Vegas again to fundraise for the GOP next week.

Bush will deliver a speech May 13 at the Orleans Hotel and Casino for a Lincoln Day dinner fundraiser, according to the Clark County GOP's website. He was last here in March.

Bush's arrival comes after trips by GOP presidential hopefuls Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, who have made appearances in Nevada in the past two months to garner early support and campaign dollars. Bush's trip will also follow the arrival of Democratic presidential frontrunner and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrives in Las Vegas Tuesday.

The high-profile candidates are more proof that Nevada will be a hotbed of activity from now until November 2016. Nevada is on many national lists as one of seven swing states that could go Democrat or Republican in the upcoming presidential election. In the 2014 mid-term elections the state saw a wave of Republican support oust Democrats in Congress, statewide offices and the Legislature. In the 2012 presidential race, the state voted for President Barack Obama.

Bush, the younger brother of former President George W. Bush and a former Florida governor, hasn't officially announced his bid for the White House. But he has a presidential exploratory committee and support from many who backed and worked for his older brother's administration.

Bush is viewed as the GOP establishment candidate parallel to Clinton, whose husband served two terms in the White House.

The long-standing ties to Washington for both Clinton and Bush give their respective parties an easy campaign playbook for the election — bash their family and past. The Democrats are likely to link Bush to his brother's tie with the Iraq War and his efforts to privatize Florida programs while he was governor. For Clinton, Republicans are likely to aim at her husband and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the death of government officials in Benghazi and proximity to President Barack Obama.

Bush was known for education reforms in Florida that brought in more charter schools — an effort that's now being debated in the Nevada Legislature. Bush was the first Republican to ever win two consecutive terms in Florida.

Tickets for the Bush event range in price from $150 to $2,500. The money will support the Clark County GOP, which is gaining a foothold in state politics as a dominant fundraising and campaigning arm for Republicans aligned with Gov. Brian Sandoval.