GOP leaders voting on convention

CARSON CITY " The Nevada Republican Party's executive committee was expected to vote Wednesday evening on a late-July date to resume the party's state convention that was abruptly shut down April 26 amid complaints from a large Ron Paul contingent.

The 12-member panel is wrapping up a process that has been in the works "from Day One," said Zachary Moyle, the state GOP's executive director. He added that Paul supporters' efforts to resume the convention on June 28 in Reno wouldn't be officially recognized.

While Paul advocates have claimed that party leaders were stalling, Moyle said, "We have not changed our strategy. We have continued to plan for the state convention. We always planned for it to reconvene."

Moyle also said a late-July convention would provide plenty of time for state GOP delegates to the party's national convention to prepare for that event, scheduled for Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minn.

Nearly 1,400 Nevada Republicans were at the party's April 26 convention, which ended prior to final votes on what was shaping up as a national convention delegation with more backers for Paul than for presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain.

Terhune said that under party rules the convention can reconvene as long as a majority is present. That would mean about 675 of the people who were at the April event. He said everyone who attended the earlier convention would be invited.