It's not a good time to be a Republican in Nevada.

A year ago, the state was tied in terms of voter registration. Now, the GOP is staring at a 60,000 person deficit.

Democrats in the state have outraised them for the cycle, and the GOP governor has been plagued with scandal.

On top of all that, conservative activists are mounting primary challenges against long-time Republican establishment figures like Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio:

Raggio, 81, won a six-point victory on Tuesday after being forced to campaign actively for the first time since his initial race in 1972. His opponent is a hero of Nevada's hard-core fiscal and social conservatives angered by Raggio's compromises on such things as a large 2003 tax increase.

"Obviously there has been creeping disunity within the party," Raggio said. "I have not had a very serious, tough election up until this primary."

That's heartening news for us. We're looking at the Nevada Senate as one of our top targets for the cycle.

In Nevada, Republicans control the state senate by a single vote. They also, apparently, don't have much to be excited about as a party. Citing lack of interest, GOP leaders in the state were forced to cancel their state convention and hold a conference call instead:

The state party broke up its original convention in April when supporters of Ron Paul hijacked the proceedings and tried to elect delegates for their candidate to the national GOP convention in September. Party officials tried to reconvene on July 26, but they needed a quorum of 675 and received only 300 RSVPs, according to local reports.

Here's to hoping that Republican supporters decide to stay home on Election Day, too.

As long as these stories keep getting written, I'm going to keep noting them here:

Democrats now have a 55,560-voter lead over the Republicans in a state that was dead even a presidential cycle ago.

(via)