2016 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses

2016 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses
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30 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention
	Election results by county. Donald Trump Ted Cruz

The 2016 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses took place on February 23 in the U.S. state of Nevada, marking the Republican Party's fourth nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

With the Democratic Party having already held its Nevada caucuses three days earlier on February 20, the Republican caucus in Nevada was the only presidential primary on that day.

During the 2015 legislative session, lawmakers attempted to change the caucus into a regular primary and at a much earlier date,^[1] however the bill failed to get to a vote.^[2]

Nine candidates were eligible:^[3]^[4]

Jeb Bush (dropped out)
Ben Carson
Chris Christie (dropped out)
Ted Cruz
Carly Fiorina (dropped out)
Jim Gilmore (dropped out)
John Kasich
Marco Rubio
Donald Trump

Debates and forums[]

December 15, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada

The fifth debate was held on December 15, 2015, at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[5] It was the second debate to air on CNN, and was also broadcast by Salem Radio. The debate was moderated solely by Wolf Blitzer with Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt serving alongside as questioners.^[6]

The debate was split into primetime and pre-primetime groups based on averaged polling numbers; in order to participate in the main debate, candidates had to meet one of three criteria in polls conducted between October 29 and December 13 which were recognized by CNN—either an average of at least 3.5% nationally, or at least 4% in either Iowa or New Hampshire.^[7] The secondary debate featured candidates that had reached at least 1% in four separate national, Iowa, or New Hampshire polls that are recognized by CNN.^[7] Paul was included in the main debate after not qualifying under the original rules because he received 5% support in Iowa in a Fox News poll.^[6]^[8]

The debate lineup was announced on December 13 to include Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Carson, Bush, Fiorina, Christie, Paul, and Kasich in the primetime debate, and Huckabee, Santorum, Graham, and Pataki in the undercard debate.^[6] Commentators suggested that the key confrontation would be between Trump and Cruz, based on their respective polling in Iowa.^[9]

Eighteen million people watched the debate, making it the third-largest audience ever for a presidential primary debate.^[10] During the debate, the audible coughing was attributed to Ben Carson. His campaign admitted that they all got sick a month prior and Carson had kept the cough for weeks. The cough was "almost gone" and Carson was not really sick at the time.^[11]

The undercard debate was the fourth and final debate appearance of Senator Lindsey Graham and former Governor George Pataki, who suspended their campaigns on December 21^[12] and December 29,^[13] respectively.

Endorsements[]

Having been swept into numerous offices in the previous election, many new Nevada Republican officeholders came out in support of various candidates. Notably, there were splits among different groups of Republicans towards their endorsements. Legislators who had supported a controversial tax hike during the 2015 session came out in support of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, while those who opposed it supported Rand Paul, Ted Cruz or Donald Trump.

(Note: This list contains endorsements only for candidates who were still running at the time of the caucuses)

Ted Cruz

Attorney General Adam Laxalt
Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore
Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman
Assemblyman Ira Hansen
Assemblyman John Moore (also supported Rand Paul)
Assemblyman Jim Wheeler
Assemblywoman Vicki Dooling

John Kasich

State Controller Ron Knecht
Assemblyman John Hambrick (Speaker) (previously endorsed Jeb Bush)
Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Beers

Marco Rubio

U.S. Senator Dean Heller
Congressman Mark Amodei
Congressman Cresent Hardy
Lieutenant Governor Mark Hutchison
State Senator Michael Roberson (Majority Leader)
State Senator Joe Hardy (President Pro Tempore)
State Senator Patricia Farley
State Senator Becky Harris
State Senator Scott Hammond
State Senator Ben Kieckhefer
Assemblyman Paul Anderson (Majority Leader) (previously endorsed Jeb Bush)
Assemblyman Stephen Silberkraus
Assemblyman Lynn Stewart
Assemblyman Derek Armstrong
Assemblyman Randy Kirner
Assemblyman David Gardner (previously endorsed Jeb Bush)
Assemblyman Glenn Trowbridge
Assemblyman Pat Hickey
Assemblyman Erv Nelson
Former Governor Robert List
Former Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt-Bono
Former Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury
Former North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck

Donald Trump

Assemblyman Brent Jones

Opinion polling[]

List of polls

Winner: Donald Trump
Caucus date: February 23, 2016

Poll source	Date	1st	2nd	3rd	Other
Primary results	February 23, 2016	Donald Trump 45.75%	Marco Rubio 23.77%	Ted Cruz 21.30%	Ben Carson 4.79%, John Kasich 3.59%
CNN/ORC^[14] Margin of error: ± 6.5% Sample size: 245	February 10–15, 2016	Donald Trump 45%	Marco Rubio 19%	Ted Cruz 17%	Ben Carson 7%, John Kasich 5%, Jeb Bush 1%, Someone else 2%, No opinion 4%
Gravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 5% Sample size: 406	December 23–27, 2015	Donald Trump 33%	Ted Cruz 20%	Marco Rubio 11%	Ben Carson 6%, Carly Fiorina 5%, Jeb Bush 5%, Chris Christie 5%, Rand Paul 1%, Rick Santorum 1%, John Kasich 0%, Mike Huckabee 0%, Unsure 12%
Morning Consult Margin of error: ± 4% Sample size: 249	November 10–16, 2015	Donald Trump 38%	Ben Carson 18%	Marco Rubio 12%	Ted Cruz 7%, Jeb Bush 6%, Carly Fiorina 2%, Mike Huckabee 2%, Rand Paul 2%, Chris Christie 1%, John Kasich 1%, Lindsey Graham 1%, Rick Santorum 0%, Someone else 1%, Don't know/No opinion 8%
CNN/ORC^[15] Margin of error: ± 6% Sample size: 285	October 3–10, 2015	Donald Trump 38%	Ben Carson 22%	Carly Fiorina 8%	Marco Rubio 7%, Jeb Bush 6%, Ted Cruz 4%, Mike Huckabee 4%, Rand Paul 2%, Jim Gilmore 1%, Chris Christie 1%, George Pataki 1%, John Kasich 1%, Lindsey Graham 0%, Bobby Jindal 0%, Rick Santorum 0%, None 3%, No opinion 3%
Gravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 4% Sample size: 623	July 12–13, 2015	Donald Trump 28%	Scott Walker 15%	Ben Carson 8%	Jeb Bush 7%, Marco Rubio 5%, Rand Paul 4%, Ted Cruz 4%, Rick Perry 3%, Bobby Jindal 2%, Mike Huckabee 2%, Chris Christie 2%, George Pataki 1%, Carly Fiorina 0%, Lindsey Graham 0%, Rick Santorum 0%, Undecided 20%
Gravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 5% Sample size: 443	March 27, 2015	Ted Cruz 18%	Scott Walker 18%	Jeb Bush 16%	Marco Rubio 7%, Ben Carson 6%, Rand Paul 5%, Chris Christie 4%, Mike Huckabee 4%, Rick Santorum 2%, Carly Fiorina 1%, Undecided 20%
Gravis Marketing Margin of error: ± 5% Sample size: 438	February 21–22, 2015	Scott Walker 27%	Jeb Bush 19%	Chris Christie 8%	Ted Cruz 6%, Mike Huckabee 6%, Rick Perry 6%, Marco Rubio 4%, Rick Santorum 4%, Rand Paul 3%, Bobby Jindal 1%, Undecided 16%

Results[]

Primary date: February 23, 2016
County conventions: March 12 - April 2, 2016 (presumably)
State convention: May 7–8, 2016 (presumably)
National delegates: 30

Nevada Republican precinct caucuses, February 23, 2016
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Actual delegate count
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Bound	Unbound	Total
Donald Trump	34,531	45.75%	14	0	14
Marco Rubio	17,940	23.77%	7	0	7
Ted Cruz	16,079	21.30%	6	0	6
Ben Carson	3,619	4.79%	2	0	2
John Kasich	2,709	3.59%	1	0	1
Invalid	266	0.35%	0	0	0
Rand Paul (withdrawn)	170	0.23%	0	0	0
Jeb Bush (withdrawn)	64	0.08%	0	0	0
Chris Christie (withdrawn)	50	0.07%	0	0	0
Carly Fiorina (withdrawn)	22	0.03%	0	0	0
Mike Huckabee (withdrawn)	21	0.03%	0	0	0
Rick Santorum (withdrawn)	11	0.01%	0	0	0
Jim Gilmore (withdrawn)			0	0	0
Unprojected delegates:			0	0	0
Total:	75,482	100.00%	30	0	30
Source: The Green Papers

Donald Trump received more votes than the combined total of the 2012 Nevada caucuses, while also beating Mitt Romney's previous two records.^[16] On the eve of the caucuses, Trump stopped by Palo Verde High School in Summerlin to greet voters.^[17]

References[]

^ "AB302". www.leg.state.nv.us. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
^ "Nevada plan to dump presidential caucus falls short". POLITICO. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
^ WRAL: NC approves 27 candidates for presidential primary ballots
^ NC State Board of Elections presidential primary candidates' list (preliminary)^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "2016 Presidential Debates Fast Facts". CNN. August 20, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Scott, Eugene (December 14, 2015). "Stage set for final GOP debate of 2015". CNN. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "CNN Republican presidential debate criteria announced". CNN. November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
^ "How Rand Paul barely made it into Tuesday's main debate". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
^ Sahil Kapur; Michael C Bender; Kevin Cirilli (December 15, 2015). "How the Fifth Republican Debate Could Reshape the Race". Bloomberg.com/politics.
^ "18 million watched Republican debate". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
^ "The Cough That Consumed the GOP Debate". ABC News. 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
^ "First on CNN: Graham ends his campaign for the White House". CNN. December 21, 2015.
^ "Former ny gov. george pataki says he's planning to drop white house bid". abc13. December 29, 2015. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
^ "CNN/ORC Poll" (PDF). ORC International. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
^ "CNN/ORC Poll". ORC International. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
^ "Trump Has Won More Votes Than Romney Had At This Point in 2012". Weekly Standard. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
^ Segal, Cheryl. "Trump takes caucus site by surprise". TheHill. Retrieved 2016-04-22.

[1] "AB302". www.leg.state.nv.us. Retrieved 2016-04-23.

[2] "Nevada plan to dump presidential caucus falls short". POLITICO. Retrieved 2016-04-23.

[WRALcandidates-3] WRAL: NC approves 27 candidates for presidential primary ballots

[ncsbelist-4] NC State Board of Elections presidential primary candidates' list (preliminary)^{[permanent dead link]}

[5] "2016 Presidential Debates Fast Facts". CNN. August 20, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.

[CNN_stage_set2-6] Scott, Eugene (December 14, 2015). "Stage set for final GOP debate of 2015". CNN. Retrieved December 15, 2015.

[CNN_debate_criteria2-7] "CNN Republican presidential debate criteria announced". CNN. November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.

[8] "How Rand Paul barely made it into Tuesday's main debate". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2016-01-02.

[9] Sahil Kapur; Michael C Bender; Kevin Cirilli (December 15, 2015). "How the Fifth Republican Debate Could Reshape the Race". Bloomberg.com/politics.

[10] "18 million watched Republican debate". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2015-12-17.

[11] "The Cough That Consumed the GOP Debate". ABC News. 2015-12-16. Retrieved 2015-12-17.

[12] "First on CNN: Graham ends his campaign for the White House". CNN. December 21, 2015.

[13] "Former ny gov. george pataki says he's planning to drop white house bid". abc13. December 29, 2015. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2015.

[14] "CNN/ORC Poll" (PDF). ORC International. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

[15] "CNN/ORC Poll". ORC International. Retrieved February 17, 2016.

[16] "Trump Has Won More Votes Than Romney Had At This Point in 2012". Weekly Standard. 2016-02-24. Retrieved 2016-04-22.

[17] Segal, Cheryl. "Trump takes caucus site by surprise". TheHill. Retrieved 2016-04-22.

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v t 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries
Candidates Endorsements Debates and forums Polling Results Convention
February	Iowa New Hampshire South Carolina Nevada
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June	California Montana New Jersey New Mexico South Dakota