A voter deposits his voting card into a ballot box at a polling site in Summerlin Tuesday, June 14, 2022.
Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023 | 4:40 p.m.
The field is set for Nevada’s several presidential nominating conventions.
President Joe Biden leads a field of 13 Democratic candidates while Republican notables like former Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott comprise the seven-person field for their respective party’s Presidential Preference Primary scheduled for Feb. 6, 2024.
That’s in addition to six other Republicans who have opted to bypass the state-run primary in favor of the Nevada Republican Party’s Feb. 8 caucuses, the latter of which chairman Michael McDonald has asserted would be the method in which the state’s delegates will be awarded at the Republican National Convention July 15-18 in Milwaukee. Leading the caucus field is former President Donald Trump — the perceived front-runner for the GOP nomination — as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Ohio businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Carolina Gov. Doug Burgum, and business advisor Ryan Binkley.
Filing periods for both the state-run primaries and the state GOP-backed caucuses ran from Oct. 2 through Monday. The Sun reported in August that candidates must pay $55,000 to participate in the caucuses, of which $20,000 can be rebated if the candidate campaigns with the Nevada GOP.
“All serious candidates are participating in the First in the West Caucus, as it is the only contest under party rules that allows candidates to earn delegates to the Republican National Convention,” read a Tuesday news release from the Nevada GOP. “We invite all Nevadans to participate in the First in the West Caucus and look forward to informative discussions that will help us select the candidates who will best represent the values and interests of our great state.”
Like the Nevada GOP’s caucuses, the primaries are a closed election for major parties in Nevada, meaning only voters who are registered with the corresponding party will only be able to participate. In a separate release Monday, the Nevada Secretary of State’s office urged Nevada voters to check that their registration information is up to date ahead of the 2024 election cycle.
The caucuses are also only open to members of the Nevada Republican Party, and party officials have said they prefer running their own nominating convention because officials can require voter identification, use paper ballots, tabulate results the night of the caucuses and not use mail-in ballots or deal with same-day voter registration. Registered voters participating in the primaries, meanwhile, will be able to utilize early voting from Jan. 27 through Feb. 2.
Same-day registration is also available up until the close of polls on Election Day, according to the Secretary of State’s office, allowing those with outdated registrations to update their party affiliation.
Those interested in registering to vote or updating their registration can visit RegisterToVote.NV.gov, or fill out a mail-in registration form, or register at any Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles office, county clerk’s office, or certain social service agencies or college campuses. The Secretary of State’s Office also notes all Nevadans who are active registered voters — unless they’ve opted out — will receive a ballot for the Presidential Preference Primary by mail.
Democratic Presidential Preference Primary candidates
- Joseph Biden
- Gabriel Cornejo
- Superpayaseria Crystalroc
- Brent Foutz
- John Haywood
- Stephen Leon
- Stephen Lyons
- Jason Palmer
- Mark Prascak
- Armando Perez-Serrato
- Donald Picard
- Marianne Williamson
Republican Presidential Preference Primary candidates
- John Castro
- Heath Fulkerson
- Nikki Haley
- Donald Kjornes
- Michael Pence
- Timothy Scott
- Hirsh Singh
Republican “First in the West” Caucus candidates
- Donald Trump
- Vivek Ramaswamy
- Ron DeSantis
- Chris Christie
- Doug Burgum
- Ryan Binkley
