Nevada Republicans voted Saturday to move their presidential caucuses to February 4 in a bid to calm a brewing battle between states vying to stage early votes in the 2012 race for the White House.
The Nevada Republican Party\'s executive committee shifted the contest after New Hampshire warned it would move its primary to December to maintain its first-in-the-nation status if Nevada kept its caucuses on January 14, party executive director David Gallagher told AFP.
States have waged a fierce battle to host early primaries or caucuses, which are thought to give a state more influence in shaping the eventual party nominee by giving the winners more media coverage needed to help raise money and building momentum among core party supporters.
Nevada\'s decision could potentially end the nationwide fight over the election calendar in the run-up to the November 2012 elections.
"This change ensures that Nevada retains its prominent national role as the first contest in the West, and it restores Nevada\'s full slate of delegates to the Republican National Convention," RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
"With this decision, Nevada will receive the attention it deserves, and the national spotlight will focus clearly on the devastating effects that President Obama\'s economic policies have had on the Silver State."
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee urged Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold their presidential nominating contests in February.
The four states are the only ones allowed under Democratic and Republican party rules to hold their nominating contests before March 6.
But last month, key battleground state Florida announced it would hold its primary on January 31, prompting South Carolina Republicans to move up their primary date to January 21 and Nevada to initially decide to hold its vote on the 14th.
Those decisions prompted New Hampshire, which traditionally holds the nation\'s first primary, to say it would then have to shift its vote to December due to a state law requiring seven days to pass between its contest and similar elections.
Though the threat was likely just a bluff, as it would violate federal law, it proved effective.
Most Republican presidential candidates reacted by announcing they would boycott the Nevada caucuses if the state would not let New Hampshire keep its vote in January.
New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina welcomed Nevada\'s decision.
"The New Hampshire primary is important not just as a long standing tradition, but as an opportunity for lesser-funded or lesser-known candidates to have the opportunity to be heard," New Hampshire Republican Committee chairman Wayne MacDonald said in a statement.
Republican Party of Iowa chairman Matt Strawn said "voters and our candidates are well served by a nomination process that starts in 2012 and today\'s action is a major step toward that goal."
Praising Nevada Republicans whose "chose unity over chaos," South Carolina\'s Republican chief Chad Connelly said "our party must choose the best person to make Barack Obama just the worst ONE-term president in American history. A common sense nominating calendar helps in that process."
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