Ryan to stump in Reno Thursday, same day Obama campaigns in Las Vegas

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, will campaign Thursday in Nevada, the same day President Barack Obama will hold a rally in Las Vegas to promote early voting before it ends Friday.

Ryan, R-Wis., will hold a 3 p.m. rally at the Reno Convention Center, according to information released Wednesday by the campaign. The GOP presidential ticket must win Washoe County and Republican-leaning rural Nevada if it is to overcome Obama's lead in Democrat-heavy Clark County, where 70 percent of voters live.

Ryan will also make a campaign stop in Las Vegas later Thursday as well and Romney is expected to return to Nevada before the Tuesday election, according to a source close to the Republican campaign.

Nevada is one of a dozen battleground states that will decide the election as Obama and Romney, their running mates and surrogates crisscross the country to gain advantage in the final days of the race for the White House.

Obama's rally will be held Thursday at the Cheyenne Sports Complex in North Las Vegas. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. for the event, which will feature actress Eva Longoria as well.

Democrats have been winning the early vote so far, leading Republicans by about 35,000 ballots statewide, according to figures posted Wednesday by the Nevada secretary of state's office. That's less than half the advantage Obama had going into Election Day four years ago when he won Nevada by 12 percentage points, smashing his GOP opponent, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Obama's campaign manager, Jim Messina, said Wednesday he's confident the president will score a repeat victory here and nationally, but he said Obama is returning to the Silver State to ensure his re-election.

"We're taking nothing for granted," Messina said in a conference call with reporters. "We continue to feel very confident about our chances in Nevada."

The Romney campaign and Republicans argued, however, that Democrats are not building up enough of a "firewall" during early voting in Clark County to overcome Romney's GOP advantage in the rest of the state and on Election Day. In 2008, Democrats had an edge of 84,000 ballots over Republicans, helping Obama to a landslide victory here. Republicans are predicting that the Clark County advantage could be about 60,000 by Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Democratic edge over Republicans in Clark county was more than 51,400 ballots cast.

"A week from today we will know, hopefully, the outcome of the election and we feel that Mitt Romney will be the next president of the United States," said Russ Schriefer, a senior Romney adviser on a call with reporters.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow @lmyerslvrj on Twitter.