RENO, Nev.
Lee Hoffman’s work is challenging at the best of times.
In most presidential election years, the chairman of the Republican Party in Elko County, Nevada, is responsible for rallying voters to help them choose a presidential candidate during the GOP caucuses. It’s a complex operation in a county of ranches and mining communities spread over an area larger than Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. His success sometimes depends on the number of people who answer the phone when he calls, or the number of friends of friends he meets at the local supermarket.
Lee Hoffman, right, sticks a sign for the Elko County Republican Party in a window of a building owned by Lina Blohm, left, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vasquez)
Lee Hoffman, left, and his wife Lynne drop off flyers to promote the upcoming Nevada GOP-led caucus, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Lee Hoffman, right, talks with business owner Lina Blohm as he works to publicize Nevada’s upcoming GOP-led caucus, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo /Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Elko County GOP Chairman Lee Hoffman works at his home Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Lee Hoffman, right, and his wife Lynne talk at their home Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Lee Hoffman poses for a photo Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, in Elko, Nev. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
This year, Hoffman’s job has been even more difficult. For the first time, he must help voters understand that Nevada will hold two elections over three days — and only one will count toward the choice. the GOP candidate.
Indeed, a state law requires Nevada to hold primary elections, but the Nevada GOP voted to hold its own caucuses, which are party-organized meetings open only to Republicans. They will only reward delegates for this contest, making the state-run presidential primary purely symbolic.
Voters received mail-in ballots for the Feb. 6 primary that do not list front-runner Donald Trump by name. For what? Trump is participating in the party’s caucuses on Feb. 8, as he prepares to take all the state’s delegates on a march to the nomination.
It’s Hoffman’s job to sort all that out for voters, including those who call to find out why Trump isn’t on their ballot.
“It’s not an easy task, and I don’t have a panacea for doing it,” said Hoffman, 72, a former mining company engineer and four-term city council member.
How is this particular arrangement possible? Blame the Founding Fathers and the federal system of government they adopted in the Constitution. Aside from a few guiding principles, such as the Electoral College, the nation’s founding charter leaves it up to the states to manage elections. And there are 50 of them, plus the District of Columbia, each led over the years by lawmakers with their own ideas about how votes should be cast and counted.
Further complicating matters, it is largely up to political parties to decide how their presidential candidate should be chosen. Some state parties choose to reward delegates based on the results of government-run primaries, while others opt for party-run caucuses. Then some, like Nevada this year as well as Michigan, Missouri and a few others, end up with both.
Critics say new Nevada GOP rules were designed to favor Trump and stacks the deck against her rivals, most of whom have left the race as she turns to Nevada.
Of the main candidates still in the running, only former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley has chosen to run in the primary, even though a victory would not give her the delegates needed for the nomination. She essentially ceded Nevada, turning instead to South Carolina, where she served as governor.
“Talk to people in Nevada: They’ll tell you the caucuses were sealed, bought and paid for,” Haley told reporters in New Hampshire, where she finished second to Trump in the Jan. 23 primary. “It’s the Trump train passing by. But we’re going to focus on equitable states.
The state’s Republican Party, like others across the United States, is led by Trump loyalists determined to take control of election processes. Three Nevada GOP leaders overseeing the caucuses have been charged with crimes that they were so-called fake voters who sent certificates to Congress falsely claiming that Trump won Nevada in 2020.
The rule changes have also caused divisions within the state party, with even the Republican governor fearing that dueling elections will confuse voters and decrease turnout. Others worried that a confusing outcome, frustration with the process and bad publicity could damage Nevada’s reputation as a presidential candidate state. Nevada is the third state to vote in the GOP contest.
Nevada GOP central committeeman Will Bradley has been involved in political parties in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina since 2007. He opposed holding caucuses but now helps organize them.
“(This is) the most confusing and significant debacle I have ever seen in Republican politics,” Bradley said.
Want to know more about caucuses and primaries? Here is an explanation:
For years, Nevada has held nominating caucuses. But the state government, controlled by Democrats, approved a law in 2021 requiring the state to hold primaries starting this year.
Nevada GOP leaders say they prefer party-run caucuses because they want rules in place, such as requiring voter ID and paper ballots , which Democrats would not endorse for state-run primaries.
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who took office after signing the law establishing the primaries and its rules, also tried to require voter ID for state elections. Although he failed to pass the requirement, he still denounced the Nevada Republican Party’s plan to reward delegates through caucuses, calling it “unacceptable” and saying that it would deprive voters of the right to vote.
Still, Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald has made progress with the caucuses. McDonald was among six Nevada Republicans indicted for falsely certifying that Trump won the state in 2020.
Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, right, shakes hands with former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign event Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
He has introduced the former president at several events around the state this election cycle, including at a rally in Las Vegas in late January. Each time, McDonald urged his supporters to plan to attend their caucus in person to support Trump.
“Give us a fair election,” McDonald told voters at rallies in Reno and Las Vegas. “I will give you the next President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”
