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Ted Cruz Woos Nevada's Libertarians On Caucus Eve

Julia Ritchey

Texas Senator Ted Cruz made his final pitch to Northern Nevadans last night at the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, the campaign's eighth stop in a marathon tour across the Silver State.

Cruz took the stage at about 9 o'clock last night to a crowd of several hundred cheering supporters. In a message tailor-made for the state, Cruz promised to shrink the size of the federal government and turn over public lands to the states.

"Donald Trump has said he doesn't think we should end the federal government's control and ownership of 85 percent of the land in Nevada,” he said. “I disagree with him. I'd rather have that land back to the states and back to the people. Because I trust the people in Nevada more than the bureaucrats in Washington."

Cruz took several swipes at Donald Trump and his closest rival Marco Rubio, who spoke in Reno just a few hours earlier.

The Texas Senator received his loudest applause, however, when promising to select a Supreme Court justice who would protect gun rights.

"We are one liberal justice away from the Supreme Court erasing the 2nd Amendment from Bill of Rights, and taking away our individual right to keep and bear arms," he said.

Several Nevada lawmakers appeared at the rally to lend their endorsement to Cruz, including Assembly members Jill Dickman and Ira Hansen, and Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt.

About 33,000 Republicans caucused in the last election in 2012, an 8 percent turnout, and political analysts are not predicting a much number this time. Caucusing begins tonight at 5 p.m.

Julia Ritchey is a former reporter at KUNR Public Radio.
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