Bush hires Nevada campaign operatives ahead of visits to state

Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush has hired two Nevada operatives with winning records ahead of a two-stop tour next week in Las Vegas and Reno.

The hiring of Ryan Erwin as an adviser and Scott Scheid as the campaign’s state director signal that the former Florida governor is serious about winning swing state Nevada. The Silver State is one of four early voting states after Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Winning here could provide campaign momentum, especially in the West.

Mitt Romney in both 2008 and 2012 hired Erwin and his company, Redrock Strategies, and twice won the Nevada GOP caucuses with more than 50 percent of the vote. He went on to lose the White House to President Barack Obama in 2012.

Erwin also is a top adviser to U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., who is in his third term from the 3rd Congressional District, a battleground about evenly divided between registered Republicans and Democrats.

Scheid was a top adviser to U.S. Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., who last year won an upset over incumbent Steven Horsford, D-Nev., in the 4th Congressional District. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Hardy for defeat in 2016.

Nevada has a history of picking presidential winners, siding with the winner every time but one in the past century. The Silver State voted twice for Obama and twice for former President George W. Bush, Jeb Bush’s brother.

Although Jeb Bush hasn’t formally announced his candidacy, he has already visited Nevada several times and on May 13 will headline the Clark County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day dinner in Las Vegas.

The traditional party fundraising dinner will start at 5:30 p.m. at The Orleans hotel-casino. Donors are expected to pay $150 to $2,500.

Bush is expected to start the day with a 9:30 a.m. town hall at Reno’s Northeast Community Center. Free tickets are available at Reno.Eventbrite.com.

“The open exchange of ideas is one of the most fundamental parts of our democracy, and while we may not always agree, I want to hear from you,” Bush told supporters in inviting them to come.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.