James Smack

James Smack was a Republican candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 2nd Congressional District (map) of Nevada. He was seeking the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) He was defeated in the primary that took place on August 12, 2008.

Nevada Republican Convention
On January 19, 2008, Nevada held it's first Presidential Caucuses. Ron Paul won 13.7% of the vote, coming in second behind Mitt Romney with 51%.

On April 26, 2008, James Smack and a group of Ron Paul supporters launched an unsuccessful effort to change the party rules as they had in the county conventions, hijack the Nevada Republican Party Convention in Reno , and elect delegates for their candidate to the national GOP convention in September.

Because there were neither enough ballots or time after the rules were changed to vote on the 200 nominations from the floor for Nevada's Republican Delegation, the Nevada GOP was forced to recess the convention before the delegates could be named. Voting irregularites, including some convention-goers attempting to cast more than one ballot, contributed to the additional time needed to insure a fair election.

June 28 Rump Convention
Although Ron Paul officially dropped out of the Presidential race on June 12, 2008, James Smack and the Paul supporters continued to push for their slate of delegates to go to the national convention. Smack helped organize a rump convention of the Nevada GOP on June 28, 2008.

Because the rump convention was not called by the state central committee and fell several hundred attendees short of a quorum, the Republican National Committee refused to recognize the slate of delegates elected there. Instead, the RNC instructed the Nevada Republican Party to proceed with selecting its delegates for the national convention.

The Nevada GOP scheduled a reconvening on July 26, but not enough delegates responded. Chairwoman Sue Lowden announced the Executive Committee would then select Nevada's delegation.

Lawsuit Against the Nevada Republican Party
In July 2008, James Smack and a group of approximately two dozen Republican Delegates filed a lawsuit against the Nevada GOP to block the party from selecting delegates to the GOP National Convention. That case was dismissed, and on July 25, 2008 the Nevada Republican Party named 31 delegates to go to St. Paul. According to a statement released by the party, Presidential preference was not a consideration in selecting Nevada's delegates.

2008 elections
Smack was seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) in the 2008 congressional elections.

Committees
Smack will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:Nevada and the U.S. Congress

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District
 * "James Smack for Congress." Official James Smack for Congress Website.
 * Paultards Ruin GOP Convention Wonkette, April 28, 2008
 * Dave Nalle GOP In Crisis, Conflict or Common Ground Blogcritics, April 30, 2008
 * Mike Weber, Message from Mike Weber about the Nevada Republican Convention UNR College Libertarians, June 9, 2008.
 * Amanda Becker, "Nevada Ron Paul Supporters Stage Rogue GOP Convention," Huffington Post, June 23, 2008.
 * James Smack Selected as Delegate at Nevada GOP Rump Convention NevadaGOPConvention.com, June 28, 2008.
 * Chuck Muth The Little Convention That Couldn't Muth's Truths, July 17, 2008.
 * Delegates at State Convention Sue Nevada Republican Party MSNBC, July 24, 2008.