Northern Nevada Republicans held a convention "watch party" at the Republican headquarters in Reno Tuesday afternoon and a cheer went up when Nevada's governor was introduced in Tampa and showed up on the big screen.
Several Nevada politicians joined the gathering, including Senator Dean Heller who says he's excited to see his friend Brian Sandoval on the national stage.
"Here's a young man who came from average income, one of ten children," says Heller. "I think it was just a great message, a great story, a great American story line. And we need to hear more of those messages and I think that's the Republican message out there today; that you have an opportunity to be anything you want to be here in this country."
Watch party attendees said they're excited to see the Romney-Ryan ticket become official.
"Right now, we have a nominee at the convention in Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan," said Mason Harrison, who is the Nevada Communication Director for Mitt Romney. "We've got a great ticket, so in a way it's bringing everyone together, saying 'alright everybody, we need to move forward, we need to volunteer, we need to pack the phone banks.'"
The watch party was titled "We Built It." In a response to a comment President Obama made about small businesses getting help along the way. Several small business owners showed up to voice their opinion on the comment. Linda Wulf, who owns Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches with her husband, says small business owners put their livelihoods on the line.
"Small business owners put their lives on the line to create their business, they work years and years sometimes at no income at all until they're finally successful," said Wulf.
Tuesday's convention and the local watch party are meant to get people engaged in the upcoming election.
"We're looking to recruit new volunteers, to sign more people up, get people engaged who maybe were sitting on the sidelines until we're further along in the process," said Harrison.
"I'm ecstatic that they nominated Mitt Romney. I met him a few weeks ago and he's genuine and looks you in the eye and he doesn't forget anything he hears. He's a very, very smart man," Wulf said.
Written by Jennifer Burton
