GOP appoints convention delegates

Nevada Republican Party officials appointed a slate of delegates Friday evening to September's Republican national convention after the party failed to elect delegates at its state convention in April.

The move came after a judge ruled Friday morning that the party's executive board could appoint the delegates. A group of party dissidents, many of them supporters of former presidential candidate Ron Paul, had sued to stop the action, contending it was not democratic.

Washoe County District Judge Jerry Polaha denied a preliminary injunction sought by more than two dozen delegates at the April convention who contended state law requires national delegates to be selected by state convention delegates.

Polaha said the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

Party officials abruptly shut down the state convention before final votes were taken on the national convention delegation when outnumbered supporters of presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain were out maneuvered by well-organized Paul supporters, who were able to get a rule change positioning them for more national convention delegate slots than expected. Party officials said the convention was running too long and would have taken several more hours to conclude.

Polaha sided with an attorney for the Nevada GOP, David O'Mara, who argued that case law shows such internal disputes should be settled by the parties, not courts. The judge said disaffected Republicans could contest the state party's decision to the national GOP.

"There's no jurisdiction (for the court) because it's a purely a political dispute," he said in ruling from the bench. "You'll get different results in different courts, and that's the problem."

O'Mara praised the judge.

"I think the court is correct. This is an internal party dispute that the court shouldn't be involved in," he said.

"Appointing our delegates was the best course of action to take and we are excited to see so many first time delegates," party Chairman Sue Lowden said. "We had every hope to reconvene the State convention but feel strongly the nominating committee has chosen a wide range of delegates who will make our party proud."

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit said they were unhappy with the ruling and would decide whether to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. If the courts fail to intervene, they said they would take the dispute to the Sept. 1-4 national convention in St. Paul, Minn.

"It still has to be settled," said plaintiff Wayne Terhune, a Paul supporter who helped organize an insurgent state convention in June after the party's state convention in Reno was recessed.

"Our overall goal is to restore lawfulness to the GOP in its delegate-selection process," he added.

Nevada has 34 delegates to the national convention and 31 alternates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.