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Nev. caucus tally gives Romney 50% of vote

Political Notebook

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February 07, 2012|By Shira Schoenberg

With 100 percent of the Nevada caucus votes finally tallied, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won easily with 50 percent of the vote.

Former US House speaker Newt Gingrich held on to second place with 21.1 percent, followed closely by Representative Ron Paul of Texas at 18.7 percent. Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum came in a distant fourth with 9.9 percent.

The state’s 28 delegates will be awarded proportionally — 14 for Romney, six for Gingrich, five for Paul, and three for Santorum.

The results from Saturday’s caucus were delayed after precincts in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, were slow in reporting their results. Some results came in late due to the addition of an evening caucus to accommodate Orthodox Jews, who could not vote before sundown on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. But the results were still not complete by Sunday evening. The Associated Press reported that the ballots were verified by hand to ensure their accuracy, which contributed to the delay.

Turnout was extraordinarily low — just 32,894 votes were recorded, out of more than 470,000 registered Republican voters in the state. (Gingrich and Paul were separated by less than 800 votes.) In the 2008 presidential caucuses, more than 44,000 Republican votes were cast.

Democrats are likely to point to the turnout figures as indicative of an enthusiasm gap among GOP voters. Both Paul and Santorum, in separate TV appearances yesterday, pointed to the low turnout as an indication that voters are unenthusiastic about the two leading candidates.

Shira Schoenberg

Gingrich consulting firm hired array of lobbyists

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says his consulting group never lobbied for clients. But his business hired state and federal lobbyists to work with clients, and some staff left to take lobbying jobs, according to lobbying disclosures and corporate reports.

Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation hired a former Georgia lobbyist to help develop business in that state; a former Missouri state agency director who was a registered lobbyist before joining Gingrich’s group; and a Washington lobbyist hired from a firm led by former Oklahoma representative J.C. Watts, a Gingrich supporter.

Gingrich’s center also paved the way for some employees to leave for lobbying jobs, turning their experience with his group into a selling point for clients. One former vice president started his own Washington lobbying firm, attracting clients also represented by Gingrich’s organization. Two other center employees left to manage Washington lobbying operations for trade associations.