Nevada Republican Party

History

Nevada was founded as a state on October 31, 1864. When the state was first formed it was a Republican state. Some speculate that this was because of Nevadans' loyalty to the president who brought them into the Union, Abraham Lincoln. The first two general elections all the constitutionally elected positions all went to the Republicans. This changed starting in 1871 when four out of the six constitutional positions were won by the Democrats.

In the general elections of 1894 and 1898 the Silver Party, a party created to go against European and Eastern American bankers, swept the election. Nevada first held a primary election in 1910. 1929 the offices were split evenly between the Democratic and Republican Parties. This was the turning point though. Once the Great Depression hit the elections from 1932 to 1990s the Democratic Party held the majority throughout the state.

In 1994 and in 1998 the Republicans were the majority in the state. In 2002 Republicans swept all of the offices in Nevada. In the 2004 election Nevada was considered a battle ground state because the difference between the two parties that year was 4,431. Throughout much of Nevada's political history it has been seen as a battle ground state. Since 1992 the state has gone back and forth between Republican and Democratic candidates for the presidency. In the elections of 1992 and 1996 the state voted for the Democratic candidate, in 2000 and 2004 they voted for the Republican candidate, and finally in the 2008 election the state voted for the Democrats. This is primarily because of the rise of the Latino population. Nevada was expected to be a battle ground state in the Presidential Election in 2012 as well.

Platform

The Nevada Republican Party adopted their most recent platform on April 12, 2014. This platform details the ideological beliefs and principles supported by the party. In general it supports less government, more individual responsibility, less regulations on businesses and lower taxes. Within the platform there is a discussion of the United States Constitution and the party's support of it, especially the first, second, fourth and the tenth amendments.. The party also believes in limited government and free markets, including supporting the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The newly adopted platform removed any reference to marriage and abortion. It also states that English should be the official language of the United States and the party supports veterans and their families.

By-laws

The By-laws of the Nevada Republican was amended on December 13, 2008. Article one says the name of the organization. Article two describes its purpose. The purpose of this political organization is to provide leadership, recruit, develop, and elect officials. It wants to provide a responsible representative government. It also wants to keep the rights and freedom for all citizens. Article three discusses the duties and the headquarters of this organization. This article goes into details about how conventions should be held. Article four provides the rules and regulations for the meetings. These rules describe everything from when meetings should be held, how voting works, where these meetings are held, and everything in between. Article five discusses membership in this organization. The first is that the members must be part of the Republican Party. They then go into the elected officials for the party. Article six goes into details about the officers for the organization and their specific duties that those positions have. Article seven discusses elections while section eight talks about the standing committees and their responsibilities.

Article nine talks about the Republican organization and how it associates with it. Article ten talks about goes into the voting and proxies in the Nevada State Republican party by-laws. Article eleven discusses the executive committee and its membership its duties. Article twelve goes into detail about the requirements for the committees and the conventions. Article thirteen talks about amendments to the by-laws, particularly how to make amendments to the by-laws. Article fourteen discusses parliamentary authority while article fifteen talks about election laws. Finally article sixteen goes into details about how the organization should support candidates. It will not recognize any candidate who had ever been impeached, removed from office, or has ever been charged and convicted of a felony. This though can be reversed for a candidate if two-thirds of the membership votes for it.

Current elected officials

The Nevada Republican Party controls all of the state's six statewide offices and is a minorty in both the Nevada Senate and the Nevada Assembly. Republicans hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and one of its four U.S. House of Representatives seats.

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

Statewide offices

State Senate

Republican members of the Nevada Senate:

State Assembly

Republican members of the Nevada State Assembly:

Executive Board

Chairman: Michael McDonald

Vice Chairman: Jim DeGraffenreid

Secretary: Vacant (As of March 20, 2015)

Treasurer: Michael Bertrand

National Committeeman: Lee Hoffman

National Committeewoman: Diana Orrock