LAS VEGAS — It seemed like a good idea at the time: Party leaders added Nevada to the mix of early nominating contests in 2008 in an effort to inject a Western state with a growing Hispanic population into the presidential primary process.
But now in its third run, the Nevada caucuses remain an afterthought, especially for Republicans.
Even as GOP presidential candidates descend into the Silver State for a nationally televised debate Tuesday night, few of these White House hopefuls will venture far off the Las Vegas Strip. Candidates have not devoted significant time to campaigning in the state, instead spending more time in the South, which plays host to a wave of primaries soon after the Nevada vote.
According to a candidate travel tracker from National Journal, Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have made 315 separate trips to New Hampshire this year, 302 trips to Iowa, 165 to South Carolina, and 51 to Nevada. Georgia, which holds its presidential primary more than a week after Nevada’s, has had more visits, with 57 trips.
“It seems like Nevada has been squeezed out of the scenario, and I don’t see that is going to change as we get deeper into the primary season,” said Josh Putnam, a University of Georgia political science professor and an authority on the presidential nominating calendar.
To be sure, candidates are hiring some staff in Nevada, and many — including Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee — are hosting events this week around the Republican debate. The two top Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have also popped in for events in the state on the way to West Coast fund-raising stops.
Nevada Republicans remain hopeful that their state will have more candidate face time following Tuesday’s debate, which will be broadcast on CNN. The main stage debate begins at 8:30 p.m.
“Many of us here see this week’s debate as the kickoff to the Nevada caucuses,” said Ed Williams, the chairman of the Clark County Republican Party,
But the candidates might not be the problem for the Nevada caucuses. The state’s contests have proven to be a messy ordeal for both parties recently.
In 2008, Barack Obama won more delegates in the Democratic contest, even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. On the Republican side that year, state party officials shut down their convention to prevent a takeover from former US representative Ron Paul’s supporters, even though Mitt Romney had already handily won the state’s caucuses.
In 2012, Nevada officials were forced to kowtow to New Hampshire in a fight over which state would go first on the nominating calendar. Later, the state had problems counting its caucuses’ ballots.
In 2016, Nevada’s Democratic caucuses will be held on Feb. 20, marking the third state on the party’s presidential nominating calendar following Iowa and New Hampshire.
The state’s Republican caucuses will be held on Feb. 23, making it the fourth contest after the first two states and South Carolina.
This means Republican contenders probably will be forced to balance the Nevada caucuses with campaigning in the 13 states holding elections on March 1, including Massachusetts. Most of the contests that day will take place in the Deep South in a series of delegate-rich states stretching from Georgia to Texas.
“It could be that Republican candidates will just go from South Carolina to the states to compete directly in Super Tuesday states and skip Nevada,” said Putnam. “Though a win in Nevada is a win.”
Some local residents said they remain hopeful the state could gain prominence after the primary because Nevada is one of a dozen swing states that could decide the general election.
“It seems to me as though [candidates] should come a lot, because they’re trying to get those swing votes,” said Brenda Sorokaty, a retiree on her way into an Albertson’s supermarket on the Las Vegas outskirts. “I don’t think Nevada is necessarily a Democrat or a really Republican state.”
But for now, Nevada remains an afterthought on the early presidential nominating calendar for Republicans. One of the biggest signs of how Nevada voters aren’t being included in the process is Tuesday’s debate.
CNN’s criteria for candidates to make the main debate stage include Iowa and New Hampshire polls, a first in the presidential race.
“It would have been nice if they included, you know, Nevada polls for the Nevada debate,” said Williams, the local Republican party chair. “But I don’t think there have been that many polls in Nevada.”
Indeed, the last poll of Nevada Republicans was released two months ago. There have been 14 surveys of New Hampshire voters released since then.
Jim O’Sullivan of the Globe staff contributed to this report. James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell. Click here to subscribe to his daily e-mail update on the 2016 campaign.