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Ron Paul may have ended his bid for the presidency, but his supporters in Nevada apparently still believe backing his candidacy and platform will send an important message to the larger Republican Party. At least one Nevada Republican spokesperson, however, will go on record that by continuing to back his suspended candidacy, the Ron Paul supporters are tarnishing the image of the Republican Party in the silver state.
Paul backers, spearheaded by Sparks dentist Wayne Terhune, are renting out the Grand Sierra casino in Reno this weekend to complete unfinished business from the party's April 26 convention, which was cut short under controversial circumstances. The rogue GOP-Ron Paul supporter gathering planned for this weekend is neither sanctioned nor recognized by the Nevada Republican Party, which plans to resume the convention on July 26.
"It's going to cause a big, black eye for Nevada," said Zachary Moyle, the state party's executive director. "It reflects so poorly on the state."
The chaos at the April 26 convention at Peppermill Casino began when attendees overwhelmingly voted to change convention rules and allow delegates to be nominated from the floor. Nearly 200 people added their names to the slate of potential delegates and it took party officials several hours to sort out proper voting procedure.
Nevada sends three delegates from each of its three congressional districts and 22 at-large delegates to the national convention, so the state convention divided by district and voted on congressional delegates first.
About an hour later, murmurs started circulating about some surprising results.
