POLITICAL EYE: Paul, Santorum turn attention to Silver State

Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are set to plant their GOP presidential campaign flags in Nevada first this week.

While all eyes are on Tuesday's presidential primary in Florida, Paul tentatively plans to hit Reno and Santorum is scheduled to make stops in Las Vegas. That's four days before Nevada's GOP caucus Saturday.

Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, and Paul, a U.S. congressman from Texas, have no chance of winning Florida, which takes a lot of money and effort, and awards all its delegates to the top finisher only. Losers go home empty.

Paul is no stranger to the Silver State. He has focused most of his attention on caucus states like Iowa, Maine and Nevada, where the most loyal Republicans show up at the political party meetings to pick a favorite candidate. And delegates are awarded proportionally here, based on what percentage of the vote candidates get. Paul's people are active and loyal, so he expects to pick up a big share of Nevada's 28 delegates at stake.

Paul finished third in Iowa on Jan. 3, winning 21.4 percent of the vote. That wasn't too far behind Santorum and Mitt Romney, who finished a whisker close No. 1 and No. 2. (The final tally showed Santorum with 34 more votes than Romney. Each man won about one-fourth of the total vote.)

In Nevada, the Paul campaign is aiming for a victory, although most GOP observers believe Romney is the favorite. Romney won the GOP caucus here in 2008 and has campaigned in Las Vegas several times, including to unveil his economic plan. Paul, too, rolled out his economic plan here.

Carl Bunce, Paul's Nevada campaign chairman, said he's trying to get Paul out among his supporters in the Silver State, including Las Vegas, as much as he can before the GOP caucus.

The Texas congressman may take a break, however, on Wednesday to celebrate his 55th wedding anniversary with his wife, Carol. "I'm pushing for a Vegas anniversary celebration," Bunce said with a laugh.

Newt Gingrich is expected to travel to Nevada right after the Florida primary. But it's not yet settled whether he'll arrive Wednesday or Thursday to start campaigning, his staff said.

As for Romney, there's no schedule released yet, but Nevadans will see plenty of him.

"He will be here a lot between now and February 4th," said Ryan Erwin, a senior adviser for Romney. "Nevada's critically important."

Santorum, who is little known in Nevada, opened a Las Vegas field office over the weekend and has gone up with his first TV ad here.

Santorum is hoping Gingrich will lose Florida, leaving Santorum as the conservative alternative. With that in mind, he's been wooing tea party types across the country.

That's reflected in his first announced Las Vegas event: a Tuesday stop by the new office of TRUNC -- Tea Party and Republicans Uniting Nevada Conservatives.

He's set to drop by from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., the group said Sunday night. The office is at 2041 N. Jones Blvd., Suite 103.

-- Laura Myers

TOUTING HISPANICS

Gov. Brian Sandoval, Nevada's first Latino governor, got a shout out from Mitt Romney in last Thursday's GOP presidential debate in Florida. But so did several other prominent Hispanic politicians when Romney was asked about potential Cabinet members in a Romney administration.

Romney mentioned Sandoval first. And then he talked up another Hispanic governor in the West, Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico. He listed several Hispanic members of Florida's congressional delegation. And he named Sen. Marco Rubio and former Sen. Mel Martinez, both of Florida, as well.

"We're blessed to have an enormous number of highly qualified Hispanic-Americans in the Republican Party and leadership right now," Romney said.

In Nevada, 26 percent of the population is Hispanic and Latinos are a growing force in the state and across the country. Republicans are trying to shore up support in the Hispanic community, which generally leans Democratic and can swing elections in more states these days.

Despite the kind words, Sandoval doesn't plan to endorse Romney -- or any other candidate -- ahead of the GOP presidential caucuses in Nevada this Saturday, according to the governor's advisers.

Sandoval had endorsed Texas Gov. Rick Perry out of personal friendship, but he dropped out.

-- Laura Myers

KROLICKI'S OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki said last week that he made sure when he took a job on Dec. 1 with Extend Health, of San Mateo, Calif., that the position would not create any conflicts with his state job.

Krolicki said his lawyer placed in the employment contract that he would have no part in any of Extend Health's activities with Nevada state or local governments.

Extend Health provides assistance for about 9,000 retirees of the Public Employees Benefits Program in choosing appropriate Medicare supplemental insurance. It receives $3.50 per month per employee.

"Nevada is carved out," Krolicki said. "I will receive no remuneration of any kind or have anything to do with any government in Nevada."

A Las Vegas retiree questioned Krolicki's employment with Extend Health after reading a story about his outside government job. All state elected officials were required this month to report on financial disclosure statements of all sources of their income.

Krolicki reported income of $63,648 in 2011 from his lieutenant governor's job and added he earned money from Extend Health. He does not have to report the amount of income from his private job.

In Nevada, serving as lieutenant governor is considered a part-time job and officeholders can hold outside employment. A quick look at some former lieutenant governors: Lonnie Hammergren was a physician, Sue Wagner held a job at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Lorraine Hunt operated and even sang at her Las Vegas restaurant.

-- Ed Vogel

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter. Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel @reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900.