Jerry Brown

Nevada’s early caucus has given voters a true relevance in the presidential nomination process, perhaps for the first time in state history.  Past caucuses have gone largely unnoticed, and presidential primaries held in 1976 and 1980 were not hotly contested.  In 1976, Ronald Reagan defeated Gerald Ford here by a 66%-29% margin, but lost primaries in Oregon and Kentucky that had attracted considerably more attention.  On the Democratic side, Jerry Brown won Nevada 53%-23% over Jimmy Carter.  In 1980, Carter defeated Ted Kennedy by a 38%-29% margin.