ASSOCIATED PRESS New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker campaigns in a barbershop in Nevada earlier this month. Booker is one of several candidates trying to gain a leg up in the early primary state.

LAS VEGAS – Nevada, the westernmost state of the early-voting states in presidential primaries, can often feel like the neglected kid brother of New Hampshire, South Carolina and Iowa. The other three states have decades’ worth of traditions and earn mounds of media attention, with Jefferson-Jackson dinners and fish fries that candidates and reporters seemingly have no choice but to attend. But Nevada, which is three time zones away from the glare of the D.C.-to-New York media corridor, only earned early-state status in 2008. But in 2020, the Silver State could play a decisive role because Nevada lacks a clear favorite among the Democratic contenders. Certain candidates, however, are the early favorites in the other three states – In Iowa, former Vice President Joe Biden, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg are polling well; in New Hampshire, Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a fellow New Englander, have a leg up; and in South Carolina, Biden, along with California Sen. Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, is expected to perform well among the state’s African American voters. The wide-open field in Nevada, which is notoriously difficult to poll and saw tightly contested Democratic primary contests in both 2008 and 2016, means it’s primed for a surprise winner that could shake up the battle for the right to challenge Republican President Donald Trump. The state’s unpredictability is directly tied up in its diversity – it has significant Hispanic, African American and Asian American populations – along with the power of its unions and changes to the caucus process. “It’s very much up for grabs. Any candidate who can establish a statewide presence will be able to become our nominee,” said William McCurdy, the chair of the state Democratic Party. “We’re a state that can make or break a campaign.”

It’s very much up for grabs. Any candidate who can establish a statewide presence will be able to become our nominee. We’re a state that can make or break a campaign. William McCurdy, the chair of the state Democratic Party

Donna West, the chair of the Democratic Party in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, said she recently took a two-week vacation with family and talked to at least one presidential candidate or campaign every day she was off-duty. A group of what she called “supervolunteers” that she met while campaigning for Clinton in 2015 and 2016 now lacks a consensus candidate. The state is set to experience its first moment of intense media attention this weekend, when six candidates – Warren, Harris, former Texas Beto O’Rourke, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar – descend on Las Vegas for a forum hosted by the Center for American Progress and Service Employees International Union. But some leading candidates, including Booker, Warren, Harris and Sanders, have already begun showering the state with attention, as has Castro, who is struggling in polling and fundraising but could receive a boost in a state that is more than a quarter Latino, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who hopes his climate change-focused message can catch on in a state with a significant renewable energy industry. All have been to the state at least three times. Other Democratic challengers can also draw attention, with operatives in the state noting businessman Andrew Yang drew impressive crowds during a recent swing through the Las Vegas area. At least Warren, Harris and Booker have staff on the ground in the state, and additional Sanders staffers started this week. Warren, who is building out a substantial ground game in all four early primary states, has the largest presence, with at least 20 people. The initial staff hires have gobbled up much of the state’s top political talent, which could hurt campaigns that haven’t made job offers yet. “A lot of the superstars that I know have been snapped up,” West said. “Most of Hillary’s Nevada team, particularly her caucus team, has been hired. I don’t know where Biden’s gonna go.” Democrats here noted building a ground game will be key, because of the state’s transient nature and its diversity. Caucus ballots will be offered in English, Spanish and Tagalog, and operatives in the state say campaigns should expect to have field staff fluent in all three languages, along with a few others. “You have a large Latino population, a large AAPI population, a large African-American population. You have a real representation of what the U.S. looks like,” said Jorge Neri, the Nevada state director for Hillary Clinton’s general election campaign in 2016. “You have to make sure that you’re hiring folks who are diverse, who are culturally competent and understand the little nuances in each of these communities.” Booker’s schedule last weekend during a swing through the state showed just how many different environments a candidate can expect to traverse when campaigning here. He began on Thursday with a trip to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, then flew to Reno, where the Democratic Party is less diverse and more liberal than their Vegas counterparts, and also did an event in rural Douglas County. On Saturday, he returned to Vegas, and without ever leaving the city limits, visited a black church and barbershop, an immigration roundtable with Latino activists, held a rally at a community center, and then went to a dinner with the Asian American community at a Chinese restaurant downtown. “We’re going directly to the people, visiting barber shops and living rooms and small town halls, we’re having substantive conversations,” Booker said of his plans for the state. “We need to run a real grassroots campaign, and that’s the way I came up.”

You have a real representation of what the U.S. looks like. Jorge Neri, the Nevada state director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 general election campaign