Sandoval skipping conservative conference in Vegas

Nevada's top Republicans are headlining a conservative conference in Las Vegas this Saturday at the M Resort.

U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., is scheduled as the kick-off speaker. U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., will follow his GOP colleague on Capitol Hill.

Former state Sen. Mark Amodei, who's running to replace Heller in the U.S. House, will get a turn at the podium.

And Amy Tarkanian, who was just elected to succeed Amodei as head of the Nevada Republican Party, will make her first big address as the new GOP chairwoman.

Who's missing from the speakers' list?

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who upset conservatives when he extended $620 million in taxes earlier this year, breaking a campaign promise he had made.

Elected in 2010, Sandoval is the leader of the state and the GOP, although he's played a largely behind-the-scenes role in party politics. So his absence could be seen as a snub.

A spokeswoman for Sandoval said he has something else scheduled for Saturday.

"He has a family conflict. We don't disclose personal details," said Mary-Sarah Kinner in an email.

Chuck Muth, head of Citizen Outreach and organizer of the conference, said the governor had long ago begged off because of scheduling. Muth said there were no hard feelings, although he was one of the strongest critics of Sandoval for lifting the sunsets on taxes as part of a $6.2 billion budget deal with Democratic leaders of the Nevada Legislature.

"I don't take it as a slight, although others might perceive it that way," Muth said. "We'll have him at different events."

Muth said that although he disagreed with Sandoval on the tax question, at least the governor explained his reversal. Sandoval said he believed a Nevada Supreme Court ruling called into question about $600 million the state wanted to use in its general fund from local government and other dedicated sources. And so he needed to fill a budget hole with the taxes.

In contrast, Muth said former Gov. Jim Gibbons broke his promise not to raise taxes yet "pretended he didn't." Gibbons lost the GOP primary to Sandoval last year.

As a result, Muth said he "disinvited" Gibbons from the annual Conservative Leadership Conference in 2010.

Sandoval as a candidate did not attend the 2010 event either, although he won plaudits from conservatives for vowing not to raise taxes. None of the other GOP gubernatorial contenders spoke either, according to Muth. Instead, the main candidate speakers were Sue Lowden and Sharron Angle, the conservative who won the GOP primary in the U.S. Senate race and went on to lose to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. The 2010 conference happened on May 22, two weeks before the June 9 primary.

For this year's 4th annual conservative conference, Muth expects about 200 people to attend from Nevada and from around the nation.

A couple other big national headline speakers include GOP presidential hopefuls Herman Cain and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.

More White House hopefuls were expected to attend as well until a related July 10 presidential debate was canceled. GOP front-runner Mitt Romney announced he would not attend the Vegas debate, which prompted organizers to postpone for another time. No new date has been set yet.

Muth said there will be a presidential straw poll taken during the day-long conference. If past is prologue, candidates who show up often take home the prize. Cain, anyone?