B.L. McLaughlin / Special to the PVT Nye County Democratic Party Chairman Loyal Watkins, speaks with two convention attendees during the county convention in Tonopah. Watkins claimed Republicans might be spying and banned coverage of the event. Advertisement

TONOPAH -- Nye County Democratic Party Chairman Loyal Watkins ejected non party members and a Tonopah Times-Bonanza & Goldfield News reporter from the county convention at the Ramada Inn Tonopah Station last Saturday.

Watkins said he was worried about Republicans spying on the convention. During the closed session Watkins said Democrats talked about how they were going to run the meeting, along with the steps they went through to elect delegates and alternate delegates.

"We did have Republicans in there and I said two or three times you're going to have to leave and they finally got up and left," Watkins said.

Watkins said only a few people were evicted from the meeting, He said they were told they could go out in the casino and gamble or eat, they weren't banished out in the cold. But Watkins admitted, "I guess maybe I was a little bit too gruff but I had to get those people out of there."

Watkins insisted "there wasn't no secrecy" and "I was not trying to hide anything."

Democrats selected delegates to the state convention in Reno May 17-18. Twenty-five delegates from the state convention will then go on to represent Nevada in the national Democratic Party convention in Denver Aug. 25-28.

There were 29 delegates elected for U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. in Tonopah last Saturday and 26 for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Watkins said that corresponds to the vote during the Nevada presidential caucus Jan. 19 in Nye County in which Clinton defeated Obama 57.3 percent to 39.5 percent. They formed the entire 55 delegates to the state convention in what has become a two-person race, none of the other candidates had any delegates.

Democrats also didn't want to release the exact vote totals of the Jan. 19 state presidential caucus, only the delegate totals.

Watkins said he ordered Fifth District Judge Robert Lane to leave the Democratic Party county convention shortly after he was elected judge in 2000. Watkins didn't want to reveal the number of people who attended the convention either, but admitted there was a good crowd.

An elected delegate who preferred not to be identified said there weren't any representatives from several precincts in Pahrump, but rural areas of the county were well represented with Democrats in attendance from places as far flung as Duckwater, Round Mountain and Gabbs.

No supporters of former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio and former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel, D-Alaska stood to support their candidate.

Obama and Clinton supporters then stood on opposite sides of the room to be counted, 54 Clinton supporters were counted and 49 Obama supporters, a percentage of 52 to 48 percent in favor of Clinton. Only 55 delegates could be chosen, so 29 delegates were then chosen for Clinton and 26 for Obama.

A little over 50 platform resolutions were turned in as well during the three hour convention, Watkins said. They dealt with issues like keeping water in Nye County, Yucca Mountain and health care, among others. Four Democrats asked to be on a board to vote on what resolutions to send on to the state, he said.

"I was the only one that talked. I didn't want no speakers. I wanted to do our business and come home. I read a letter from Senator Reid," Watkins said.

Laurayne Murray, chairwoman of the Pahrump town board and a Clinton supporter, said she suspected Watkins wanted to clear the room to get rid of the people who weren't eligible to vote, eliminating some confusion. But she disagreed with the decision to bar people from the meeting.

"They should be able to sit in the room and be an observer. They just can't participate," Murray said.

B.L. McLaughlin, a reporter for the Tonopah Times-Bonanza and Goldfield News, wasn't registered to vote and was told to leave the room when delegates were selected. McLaughlin said she was excluded about a half-hour after the convention began shortly after 9 a.m. and only entered the room where officials were meeting during a few breaks during the morning session.

"The media are supposed to be impartial. If I signed up as a Democrat, am I impartial?" McLaughlin asked.

Regarding whether Republicans would spy on the Democrats, Nye County Republican Party Chairwoman Fely Quitevis laughed and said, "We are too busy to do things like that."

Republicans hold their Nye County Convention at 8 a.m., Saturday, March 8 at the Beatty Senior Center.

"It's only Republicans and guests that will pay the entrance fee of $15. There's also a lunch," Quitevis said.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the Clark County Democratic convention was a disaster, that ended up in no state delegates awarded to either Clinton or Obama. The turnout overwhelmed the county party's capacities and the nominating process will have to be repeated, possibly in April, the newspaper reported.