Nevada Republican Party

Nevada was founded as a state on October 31, 1864.[1] When the state was first formed it was a Republican state.[2] Some speculate that this was because of Nevadans' loyalty to the president who brought them into the Union, Abraham Lincoln. In the first two general elections all the constitutionally elected positions went to the Republicans.[2] This changed starting in 1871 when four out of the six constitutional positions were won by the Democrats.[2]

In the general elections of 1894 and 1898 the Silver Party, a party created to go against European and Eastern American bankers, swept the election.[3] Nevada first held a primary election in 1910.[3] In 1929 the offices were split evenly between the Democratic and Republican Parties. This was the turning point though.[4] Once the Great Depression hit the elections from 1932 to the 1990s the Democratic Party held the majority throughout the state.

In 1994 and in 1998 the Republicans were the majority in the state. In 2002 Republicans swept all of the offices in Nevada. In the 2004 election Nevada was considered a battleground state because the difference between the two parties that year was 4,431.[4] Throughout much of Nevada's political history it has been seen as a battleground state. Since 1992 the state has gone back and forth between Republican and Democratic candidates for the presidency. In the elections of 1992 and 1996 the state voted for the Democratic candidate, in 2000 and 2004 they voted for the Republican candidate, and finally in the 2008 election the state voted for the Democrats.[5] This is primarily because of the rise of the Latino population.[6] Nevada was expected to be a battleground state in the presidential election in 2012 as well.[7] On June 23, 2018, President Donald Trump addressed the 2018 Nevada Republican Party State Convention in Las Vegas.[8]

The By-laws of the Nevada Republicans were amended on December 13, 2008. Article one says the name of the organization. Article two describes its purpose. The purpose of this political organization is to provide leadership, recruit, develop, and elect officials. It wants to provide a responsible representative government. It also wants to keep the rights and freedom for all citizens. Article three discusses the duties and the headquarters of this organization. This article goes into details about how conventions should be held. Article four provides the rules and regulations for the meetings. These rules describe everything from when meetings should be held, how voting works, where these meetings are held, and everything in between. Article five discusses membership in this organization. The first is that the members must be part of the Republican Party. They then go into the elected officials for the party. Article six goes into details about the officers for the organization and their specific duties that those positions have. Article seven discusses elections while section eight talks about the standing committees and their responsibilities.

Article nine talks about the Republican organization and how it associates with it. Article ten goes into the voting and proxies in the Nevada State Republican party by-laws. Article eleven discusses the executive committee, its membership and its duties. Article twelve goes into detail about the requirements for the committees and the conventions. Article thirteen talks about amendments to the by-laws, particularly how to make amendments to the by-laws. Article fourteen discusses parliamentary authority while article fifteen talks about election laws. Finally article sixteen goes into details about how the organization should support candidates. It will not recognize any candidate who has been convicted of a felony or, while serving in a public office was impeached and convicted or removed from office for any reason, unless the Nevada Republican Central Committee or a Convention of the Nevada Republican Party shall waive this rule by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the members or delegates present.[9]

The Nevada Republican Party controls only one of the state's six statewide offices and the Republicans are the minority in both the Nevada Senate and the Nevada Assembly. Republicans hold none of the state's U.S. Senate seats and one of its four U.S. House of Representatives seats.[10][11][12]

Chairman: Michael J. McDonald

Vice Chairman: Jim DeGraffenreid III

Secretary: Barbara Hawn

Treasurer: Michael Bertrand

National Committeeman: Lee Hoffman

National Committeewoman: Michele Fiore

• Nevada Republican Party