Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Harris manager praises Nevada Democrats early caucus options

Kamala Harris Meet and Greet

Steve Marcus

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris speaks to women during a meet and greet event at the Eclipse Theaters in downtown Las Vegas Friday, June 14, 2019.

Kamala Harris Meet and Greet

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris talks with women during a meet and greet event at the Eclipse Theaters in downtown Las Vegas Friday, June 14, 2019. Launch slideshow »

Kamala Harris' campaign manager has applauded the Nevada Democratic Party for offering more ways to participate in the state's presidential nominating process next year by offering early in-person and telephone caucusing.

Juan Rodriguez said the move will expand access and be more democratic.

Nevada, the third-in-line state to express a preference for the Democratic contenders, is considered the first test of a candidate's appeal to diverse communities, including a sizable Latino population, and strong organized labor presence.

The Democratic National Committee is requiring states such as Nevada that run a caucus instead of a primary for the 2020 presidential election to find ways to expand participation and offer some kind of remote participation.

Nevada Democrats announced earlier this year that they're planning to offer four days of early, in-person caucusing and two days of tele-caucusing, where voters will be able to call in and indicate their top choices for their party's nominee.

Rodriguez said the campaign has not yet determined if they'll push their supporters to take advantage of the early options next year.

"That's something that we'll determine as we go through the process and measure our support," he said.

He said the campaign wants to support voter preferences, including those who want to attend the in-person neighborhood caucus meetings across Nevada on Feb. 22 to express their preferred candidate for the Democratic nominee.

"Some people love to caucus. They see that as their identity of engagement," he said. "And if that's where they feel they want to partake in, then we will do all our efforts to organize them there."

Rodriguez said the state is critically important to the campaign, which is working to build support across Nevada's diverse communities, including the growing and increasingly politically organized Asian American-Pacific Islander community.

Rodriguez was among top Harris advisers in Las Vegas Wednesday to attend the official opening of the California senator's campaign office in Nevada. Emmy Ruiz, Hillary Clinton's Nevada director in 2016 and now a senior adviser to the Harris campaign, also attended.