Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, says his campaign is battling Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul for second place in Nevada.
Mr. Gingrich, who trails former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in recent polls, has little hope for an upset in Nevada’s caucuses and instead is looking to best rival Mr. Paul for second place, according to the Georgia Republican’s campaign.
The former House speaker conceded Friday that they expect Mr. Romney to take first place in Saturday’s Nevada caucus. Recent polls show Mr. Romney with a large lead in the state.
“We expect Governor Romney to come in first,” Mr. Gingrich told Fox. “There’s a very large Mormon population here.”
The former House speaker has a sparse campaign operation in Nevada and took part in just five public events before caucus-goers were set to begin. Neither Mr. Gingrich nor a political action committee backing him ran television ads in the state, leaving him with little name recognition on the heels of a tough political defeat in Florida just days earlier.
Speaking Friday, Mr. Gingrich said that Mr. Paul’s campaign remains organized in the state, adding that a Paul victory would translate to a defeat for Mr. Gingrich’s campaign.
“I think our hope is that we may be able to come in second, although Ron Paul is very organized,” the former House speaker noted. “We’re going all out to see if we can’t be a good solid second here, and then we’re on to Colorado and Minnesota.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Paul, who has struggled to perform well in early primaries, said Friday that his campaign is confident in its chances of a strong performance. The Texas Republican has spent the past week campaigning in the state, meeting with party leaders and building support among his base.
Carl Bunce, Mr. Paul’s Nevada campaign chairman, said “thousands of volunteers” have committed to show up Saturday for the Texas Republican, according to Politico.
“We have the numbers to win,” said Mr. Bunce. “We just have to turn out.”
That said, Mr. Paul was already focused on the election beyond the Nevada caucus, eyeing contests further down the nominating calendar. Campaigning in Minnesota, the Texas Republican signaled that the results were unlikely to change their strategy in a race that seemed to have become a two-man contest between Mr. Romney and Mr. Gingrich.
