Republican candidates to debate in Nevada

WASHINGTON — Nevada this December will be the focus of the political world, or at least the Republican part, after the state on Friday was named host for an official debate of GOP candidates running for president.

The Republican National Committee announced nine debates, and also the networks that will broadcast them from August through March 1, 2016. Officials said there could be three more debates.

The debate in Nevada will take place in December, with CNN as the Republicans’ “broadcast partner” for the event, the party announced from its winter meeting in San Diego.

A party spokeswoman could not say whether the debate will take place in Las Vegas or in Northern Nevada. CNN reported it will be in Las Vegas.

Nevada is expected to play an outsized role in shaping the field of presidential candidates, as it did leading to the 2012 elections. The state’s Republican caucus on Feb. 4, 2016, will be the third event in the presidential campaign calendar, after the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary.

The state’s placement as an early caucus state likely played a role in nabbing a debate.

Also, none of the Republican presidential hopefuls has lost his map of the state. Many of them have traveled to Las Vegas in the past year to raise money and woo Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., and one of the party’s top donors.

Most recently, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was in Las Vegas on Friday and will be in Reno on Saturday.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was in Las Vegas in November. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was in Las Vegas last month. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was there in March, as was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida grew up in Las Vegas.

But beyond that, the Republicans want to reward a state where they made big gains in the fall elections and where they want to keep momentum swinging red, said Mark Peplowski, a political science professor at the College of Southern Nevada.

“You only have seven swing states in America and Nevada has been one of them,” Peplowski said. “Republicans want to have a chance to lock up Nevada. Since Republicans have taken the state Legislature and have done a good job of motivating Republicans, they want to redouble.”

A major party happening “helps them reinforce the message and reinforce the party,” he said.

The impact of an individual debate might be more pronounced this cycle as the Republican Party is working to limit their number and to time them to maximize their impact.

The party is aiming to cut the number of debates roughly in half from the 2012 election cycle, when Republican hopefuls spent as much time cutting down each other as they spent criticizing President Barack Obama.

“By constructing and instituting a sound debate process, it will allow candidates to bring their ideas and vision to Americans in a timely and efficient way,” Republican Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “This schedule ensures we will have a robust discussion among our candidates while also allowing the candidates to focus their time engaging with Republican voters.”

Besides limiting the number of officially sanctioned debates, Republicans also are spreading them across the country. And the party is sanctioning no more than one debate per state, compared to previous years when a handful of events were held in Iowa and New Hampshire, the earliest of the caucus and primary states.

The first Republican debate will be this August in Ohio, and carried on Fox News. A September debate will be held in California. Colorado will host an October debate while a November one will be in Wisconsin. Then Nevada.

Republicans will be returning to the state after holding an October 2011 presidential debate at The Venetian’s Sands Expo and Convention Center.

That debate, held as part of a Western Republican Leadership Conference, was attended by all the major candidates except former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who boycotted it in favor of making an appearance in New Hampshire.

When Priebus talked about wanting debates to showcase the best of Republicans, he may have had the 2011 Las Vegas debate in mind as an example to be avoided.

The event turned into a verbal slugfest, with contenders Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry slamming front-runner Mitt Romney over the former Massachusetts governor’s embrace of health care reform similar to Obamacare.

Further, Romney and Perry got into an angry face-off over illegal immigration that drew boos from the audience of 1,500 people. Republicans worried afterward whether the presidential hopefuls did themselves more harm than good.

Interest groups are already positioning to link their own messages to the upcoming events that will draw heavy media attention.

The American Gaming Association pointed out that the Republicans will be debating in states where casino gaming supports 473,500 jobs and generates $10 billion in taxes. AGA President Geoff Freeman said the association plans to make sure the candidates know that.

“And the nearly half-a-million gaming employees will know which candidates support their industry as they head to the voting booth,” Freeman said.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.