Democrats to hold 'Mock Caucus' on Thursday in Virginia City

Pizza will take the place of candidates at a mock caucus this week put on by the state Democratic Party in Virginia City.

"We use pizza because, as the state party, we're neutral in the presidential race," said Kristen Searer, deputy executive director of the state Democratic Party. "It makes it a lot of fun as people get very tense talking about their pizza choice."

Pepperoni pizza will vie with cheese, sausage, anchovies, vegetarian and "everything" to show voters how caucusing is done, she said, which the party hopes will encourage more people to participate in the state's caucuses on Jan. 19, 2008, - the second in the nation after Iowa's Jan. 14 caucus.

Searer said in past years, when the caucuses were held in the fall, the presidential nomination was all but sewn up.

"For the first time, Nevada will be among the first in the nation holding caucuses," she said. "A lot of Nevadans never went because we were so far back in the process. We also have a lot of new residents."

The mock caucus, or "mockus," will begin at 5:30 p.m. upstairs at the Delta Saloon on C and Union streets.

Mock caucuses have already been held in Carson City, Fernley, Zephyr Cove, Pahrump, Ely, Eureka, Winnemucca, Elko and Alamo and others.

Searer said there will be multiple "mockuses" in Las Vegas and the Reno areas, and some rural areas might have more than one.

"We're doing them all over," she said. "We want to make sure we hit all the rural areas." In some rural areas you might have more than one mockus."

She said the attendance at the mockuses varied, from 10 to 115 people, and the mockuses are open to the public.

If you go

WHAT: Mock caucus, open to the public

WHERE: The Delta Saloon (upstairs), 18 South C Street, Virginia City

WHEN: 5:30Ð6:30 p.m., Thursday

CALL: (866) 737-3367

On the Net:

www.nvdemscaucus.com