Candidates chart primary day itineraries

The man who might be most interested in today's Republican primary, Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, won't even be in Nevada as voters stream to the polls to pick his opponent.

He'll be paying attention from Washington, D.C., where the Senate is in session, his staff said. That means Reid faces a late night because of the three-hour time difference between the coasts as well as a highly competitive GOP primary that might be tough to call.

"We'll keep him posted. He's not going to wait until the next morning to find out what the results are," said Reid spokesman Jon Summers, who said the Senate majority leader will release a statement after the GOP nominee wins. "We're prepared to go up against any one of the three" top GOP candidates.

Heading into today's voting, Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle had momentum and leads her two main GOP opponents, Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian, in polls. The former Reno assemblywoman campaigned in Elko and Ely on the eve of the primary, shoring up her stronghold support in rural and Northern Nevada, where she's expected to finish strongest.

Today , Angle planned to vote in Reno then attend a Nevada GOP Assembly election night rally in the Biggest Little City before flying south to join Clark County Republicans gathered in Las Vegas at The Orleans to watch the final results come in and show a bit of GOP unity.

"Let's get together, congratulate the winners, salute a successful primary season and unite our efforts to make the 2010 election season a GOP success," the county party said of the election party.

That might be a bit difficult after a GOP primary contest in which Tarkanian and Lowden each argued in the closing days that he or she was the only Republican who could beat Reid and that Angle was too conservative to draw enough crossover support in a general election.

Tarkanian, a Las Vegas businessman and former University of Nevada, Las Vegas basketball star, also planned to attend the GOP gathering tonight at The Orleans after voting in Las Vegas.

As for Lowden, she returned to Las Vegas at 2 a.m. Monday from a quick, two-day rural Nevada tour of a half dozen counties where she hoped to pick up votes that might otherwise go to Angle.

She spent Monday and planned to spend today on the phone trying to persuade undecided voters to back her at the ballot box, trying to make a comeback after Reid's attacks and her own gaffes put her in an underdog position.

"We believe this is going to be a very tight race all the way to the finish," Lowden campaign manager Robert Uithoven said Monday after days of blaming Reid and his Democratic allies for trying to decide the GOP primary by attacking Lowden. "I still think we're going to win this campaign."

Lowden, a casino executive, plans to spend election night with supporters at View 215, an upscale restaurant with a panoramic view of the Strip and the Las Vegas Valley.

Las Vegas Assemblyman Chad Christensen and Wall Street banker John Chachas, an Ely native, are expected to pick up a few percentage points of the Republican vote today, but others in the dozen-strong field of GOP candidates haven't received much support or money.