2016 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses

←  2012 February 23, 2016 (2016-02-23) 2020 →
←  SC AK →
30 pledged delegates to the Republican National Convention
Candidate Donald Trump Marco Rubio Ted Cruz Home state New York Florida Texas Delegate count 14 7 6 Popular vote 34,531 17,940 16,079 Percentage 45.91% 23.85% 21.38%   Candidate Ben Carson John Kasich Home state Virginia Ohio Delegate count 2 1 Popular vote 3,619 2,709 Percentage 4.81% 3.60%
Election results by county Election results by congressional district   Donald Trump   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   Ted Cruz   40–50%

Elections in Nevada
Federal government U.S. President 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 Dem GOP 1916 Dem GOP 1920 Dem GOP 1924 Dem GOP 1928 Dem GOP 1932 Dem GOP 1936 Dem GOP 1940 Dem GOP 1944 Dem GOP 1948 Dem GOP 1952 Dem GOP 1956 Dem GOP 1960 Dem GOP 1964 Dem GOP 1968 Dem GOP 1972 Dem GOP 1976 Dem GOP 1980 Dem GOP 1984 Dem GOP 1988 Dem GOP 1992 Dem GOP 1996 Dem GOP 2000 Dem GOP 2004 Dem GOP 2008 Dem GOP 2012 Dem GOP 2016 Dem GOP 2020 Dem GOP 2024 Dem GOP U.S. Senate 1865 1867 1869 1873 1875 1879 1881 1885 1887 1891 1893 1897 1899 1902 1903 1905 1909 1911 1913 (Sp) 1914 1916 1918 (Sp) 1920 1922 1926 1928 1932 1934 1938 1940 1942 (Sp) 1944 1946 1950 1952 1954 (Sp) 1956 1958 1962 1964 1968 1970 1974 1976 1980 1982 1986 1988 1992 1994 1998 2000 2004 2006 2010 2012 2016 2018 2022 2024 U.S. House 1864 1865 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2nd 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Special elections 2nd district, 2011
State government General 1864 1866 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Gubernatorial 1864 1866 1870 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 Nevada Senate 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Nevada Assembly 2020 2022 2024
Ballot measures 2002 and 2016 2002 Nevada Question 2 2016 Nevada Question 2
Henderson Mayoral 2017 2022
Las Vegas Mayoral 1909 1911 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2024
North Las Vegas Mayoral 2013 2017 2022
Reno Mayoral 1868 1870 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022
None of These Candidates   Nevada portal
v t e

The 2016 Nevada Republican presidential caucuses took place on February 23 in the U.S. state of Nevada, marking the Republican Party's fourth nominating contest in their series of presidential primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

With the Democratic Party having already held its Nevada caucuses three days earlier on February 20, the Republican caucus in Nevada was the only presidential primary on that day.

During the 2015 legislative session, lawmakers attempted to change the caucus into a regular primary and at a much earlier date, ^[1] however the bill failed to advance to a vote. ^[2]

Candidates

Nine candidates were eligible: ^{[3] [4]}

• Jeb Bush (dropped out)
• Ben Carson
• Chris Christie (dropped out)
• Ted Cruz
• Carly Fiorina (dropped out)
• Jim Gilmore (dropped out)
• John Kasich
• Marco Rubio
• Donald Trump

Debates and forums

December 15, 2015 – Las Vegas, Nevada

The fifth debate was held on December 15, 2015, at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. ^[5] It was the second debate to air on CNN, and was also broadcast by Salem Radio. The debate was moderated solely by Wolf Blitzer with Dana Bash and Hugh Hewitt serving alongside as questioners. ^[6]

The debate was split into primetime and pre-primetime groups based on averaged polling numbers; in order to participate in the main debate, candidates had to meet one of three criteria in polls conducted between October 29 and December 13 which were recognized by CNN—either an average of at least 3.5% nationally, or at least 4% in either Iowa or New Hampshire. ^[7] The secondary debate featured candidates that had reached at least 1% in four separate national, Iowa, or New Hampshire polls that are recognized by CNN. ^[7] Paul was included in the main debate after not qualifying under the original rules because he received 5% support in Iowa in a Fox News poll. ^{[6] [8]}

The debate lineup was announced on December 13 to include Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Carson, Bush, Fiorina, Christie, Paul, and Kasich in the primetime debate, and Huckabee, Santorum, Graham, and Pataki in the undercard debate. ^[6] Commentators suggested that the key confrontation would be between Trump and Cruz, based on their respective polling in Iowa. ^[9]

Eighteen million people watched the debate, making it the third-largest audience ever for a presidential primary debate. ^[10] During the debate, the audible coughing was attributed to Ben Carson. His campaign admitted that they all got sick a month prior and Carson had kept the cough for weeks. The cough was "almost gone" and Carson was not really sick at the time. ^[11]

The undercard debate was the fourth and final debate appearance of Senator Lindsey Graham and former Governor George Pataki, who suspended their campaigns on December 21 ^[12] and December 29, ^[13] respectively.

Endorsements

Having been swept into numerous offices in the previous election, many new Nevada Republican officeholders came out in support of various candidates. Notably, there were splits among different groups of Republicans towards their endorsements. Legislators who had supported a controversial tax hike during the 2015 session came out in support of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, while those who opposed it supported Rand Paul, Ted Cruz or Donald Trump.

(Note: This list contains endorsements only for candidates who were still running at the time of the caucuses)

Polling

Aggregate polls

Results

Primary date: February 23, 2016
County conventions: March 12 - April 2, 2016 (presumably)
State convention: May 7–8, 2016 (presumably)
National delegates: 30

Delegates were awarded to candidates who got more than 3.33% of the vote proportionally.

Donald Trump received more votes than the combined total of the 2012 Nevada caucuses, while also beating Mitt Romney's previous two records. ^[16] On the eve of the caucuses, Trump stopped by Palo Verde High School in Summerlin to greet voters. ^[17]

Results by county

Analysis

Donald Trump overwhelmingly won the caucuses, with Marco Rubio, who for a time lived in Nevada, coming in a distant second. According to exit polls by Edison Research, Trump won among ideologically moderate (50%) and somewhat conservative (55%) voters. ^[18] Trump carried white caucus-goers with 47% and Latino caucus-goers with 45%. ^{[18] [19]}

Ted Cruz won two counties, Elko and Nye, the latter of which has a large LDS population. ^[20] Mormon voters continued to be a strong constituency for Cruz throughout the primary.

References