A proposal to change Nevada's Republican presidential caucuses to primaries failed to pass in the dying days of the legislative session.
The state GOP backed the initiative, but it floundered in the Legislature and didn't receive a vote before sine die.
Nick Riccardi with the Associated Press said caucuses are viewed with an "arched eyebrow" in Washington, D.C., especially after the abysmal turnout for the 2012 Republican caucus in Nevada.
Caucuses are only open for registered members of the party who are willing to be at one place at one time, follow the rules and vote in front of a room full of people
Primaries get more people involved in the process and can be held statewide similar to a general election.
Riccardi said it is often compared to the difference between presidential candidate Rand Paul, who has a strong grassroots campaign, and presumed presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who has more institutional money and support.
"That is the argument for the caucus is that they give the people who care the most about the process who are the most intense a leg up on the big money folks, who parachute into the state and bombard the airwaves and get a bunch of folks who don't really care to come and turn out," Riccardi said.
Opponents of the caucus system say if the state keeps it, it will lose its status as a one of the first states in the presidential nominating process.
But Riccardi reported that Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, actually asked Democrats in the Legislature to vote against the bill because he thought it would show Nevada as unstable.
Riccardi said losing Nevada's place as an early voting state in the nomination process "is is the ultimate scare tactic."
Nick Riccardi, Associated Press
