Romney, Obama will visit Las Vegas Valley on back-to-back days

By Karoun Demirjian

Published Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 | 10:42 a.m.

Updated Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas will host both presidential candidates next week, as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama make back-to-back swings through town to drum up support as voting gets under way.

The Obama campaign announced Saturday morning that Obama will make a late-night grassroots appearance in Las Vegas on Wednesday, as part of a two-day “America Forward!” tour.

Obama will start the tour in Iowa on Wednesday morning and travel through Denver for a rally before arriving in Las Vegas. The whirlwind tour of swing states continues with the president flying overnight to Tampa, Fla., for another grassroots rally Thursday and finally stopping off in Richmond, Va., before heading home.

No further information about the Las Vegas event was available. On Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama will follow up on her husband’s performance with another rally in Las Vegas, as reported earlier this week.

The Obama duo will come into Las Vegas on the heels of Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan, who will hold an event Tuesday morning at the Henderson Pavilion, as reported earlier today.

It is the first time Romney and Ryan will appear together in Nevada.

Doors open at the Henderson Pavilion at 9:45 a.m. Tickets can be picked up between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. at Las Vegas Victory HQ, 9640 W. Tropicana Avenue, Suite 106, and Henderson (Gibson Road) Office, 157 N. Gibson Road, Suite 110.

The close proximity of the visits is a reflection of the presidential polls in Nevada, most of which show the president with a slight edge over Romney in what otherwise is a very close, swing-state race.

Their appearances in Southern Nevada begin the day after Romney and Obama are scheduled to meet for their final debate appearance Monday night and will occur in the middle of early voting season, which began Saturday and runs through Nov. 2.