WASHINGTON -- White House officials are encouraging Nevada Republicans to have their presidential caucus earlier in 2008, after watching Democrats grab the spotlight in the Silver State, a party official said Tuesday.

Talk of events that might refocus attention on Nevada Republicans gained momentum after Democrats had their Feb. 21 forum in Carson City, which drew all their presidential candidates except Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

The move by Democrats to schedule a Nevada caucus on Jan. 19, just five days after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and three days before the New Hampshire primary, is luring presidential hopefuls to Nevada and seemingly energizing the party.

"It has come from the White House that we should look at this and not let the Democrats have the party all to themselves," said Mike Dayton, chief of staff to Gov. Jim Gibbons. "Plus, there are already candidates coming through the state."

"The White House has definitely encouraged us to look at this because Nevada is a battleground state," Dayton said. He said he understood political adviser Karl Rove, who grew up in Sparks, was behind the push.

In an interview Tuesday, Gibbons said he favors "doing anything to compete."

"We will make sure we remind the people of Nevada that we are a state that is nearly equally split between Republicans and Democrats and that Republicans still have a presence in the state," Gibbons said.

"We are not about to let the Democrats have free rein, a free run in the state," Gibbons said.

GOP leaders have scheduled a Friday conference call on the topic, said Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. Participants will include Porter, Rep. Dean Heller, Sen. John Ensign, Gibbons and consultants Mike Slanker and Pete Ernaut, he said.

"The Democrats have the opportunity to bring in their candidates and we should do the same thing," Porter said.

Porter said Nevada Republicans are eyeing the week after the Feb. 5 presidential primary in California.

"That way we can catch them when they are in that part of the country," Porter said.

While Nevada Democrats won a position at the front of the presidential year calendar, a Nevada Republican event in mid-February could put the party decidedly in the middle of the pack as a number of other states also are looking to front-load.

Besides California, a dozen other states are looking to have caucuses or primaries on Feb. 5, which is being dubbed "Giga-Tuesday." Texas, New York and Illinois are among those states.

"It is not surprising the Republican state party wants to follow our lead," said Kirsten Searer, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Democratic Party. "Democratic candidates are coming into the state and talking to voters, and its a great opportunity for us to reach out to new people."

Nevada Democrats began organizing their January 2008 caucuses in mid-November, Searer said.