Obama's state director in Nevada died of heart attack Sunday.

(CNN) — Barack Obama said Monday he was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the recent death of one of his top campaign aides in the crucial battleground state of Nevada.

Terrence Tolbert, the Nevada state director of the Obama campaign and a former top aide to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, died of a sudden heart attack in Las Vegas on Sunday. He was 44 years old.

“Terence was a strong force in this campaign, with a positive outlook that brought people together," Obama said in a statement. "He was much loved by his team, who often repeated his motto of 'leave no stone unturned.' His enthusiasm, talent, and warm heart will truly be missed. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Obama-Biden family are with his wife and loved ones."

In a Monday statement, Bloomberg called Tolbert, "one of the most hardworking people in the world."

Tolbert was on a temporary leave from his position as a lobbyist in Albany, New York on behalf of New York City's public schools.

Watch Nevada's Secretary of State talk about early voting.

(CNN) — For some voters, early voting is smooth sailing.  Watch CNN's Tony Harris as he chats with Ross Miller, Nevada's Secretary of State, and his state's appraoch to early voting.

New gains for Obama on the CNN Electoral Map.

(CNN) — If Barack Obama is betting on Nevada, he may find a pleasant payoff. A new poll suggests that the Democratic presidential candidate is widening his lead there.

That's contributing to an increase in territory for Obama in CNN's Electoral College Map. The map estimates what would occur if the election were held today, by reviewing state polls, voting trends, campaign visits and advertising.

In the Nevada survey — one of five CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation state polls released Thursday morning — 52 percent of likely voters say Obama is their choice for president, with 45 percent backing John McCain. That seven-point lead is up from a five-point advantage Obama held in a poll taken one week ago.

Nevada narrowly voted for George W. Bush in the last two presidential contests.

"Obama is racking up support among blue collar voters in Nevada," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Two weeks ago, he had a six-point lead among people with no college degree. Now he has a 23-point lead over McCain among that group. If the unions are making a big push for Obama in Nevada, it seems to be working."

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Obama: McCain really stuck it to Bush — 10 percent of the time.

RENO, Nevada (CNN) — Democrat Barack Obama levied more criticism at opponent John McCain Saturday, mocking the Arizona Republican by saying McCain is just "trying to break with his president over the last ten days after having supported him for the last eight years."

"He denounced the President for letting things get completely out of hand–that's what he said," Obama told a crowd in Reno. "In fact, John McCain is so opposed to George Bush's policies, that he voted with him 90 percent of the time for the first eight years. That's right, he decided to really stick it to George Bush – 10 percent of the time."

"So, let's be clear. John McCain attacking George Bush for his out-of-hand economic policy is like Dick Cheney attacking George Bush for his go-it-alone foreign policy. What Joe Biden says – it's like Tonto getting mad at the Lone Ranger."

Though, to be clear, Obama's running mate Joe Biden never actually said that publicly. Biden has, however, made similar references using Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The Illinois senator is spending the day out west. In addition to Reno's event, he's also holding a rally in Las Vegas, as well as one in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Gov. Palin appealed to women voters in Nevada Tuesday.

HENDERSON, Nevada (CNN) — Flanked by a quintet of former Hillary Clinton supporters, Sarah Palin on Tuesday made her most direct appeal to female voters since kicking off her vice presidential campaign in August.

With polls showing Palin's unfavorable ratings among women rising over the last month, the Alaska governor looked to tap into any lingering tensions left over from the drawn-out Democratic primary battle — a fight that left many Clinton supporters disappointed.

"Our opponents think that they have the women's vote all locked up, which is a little presumptuous," Palin said. "Little presumptuous, since only our side has a woman on the ticket."

"You've got to ask yourself, why was Senator Hillary Clinton not even vetted by the Obama campaign? Why did it take 24 years, an entire generation from the time Geraldine Ferraro made her pioneering bid, until the next time that a woman was asked to join a national ticket?"

Palin spoke glowingly of Clinton in the early days of her campaign, but mentions of the New York senator elicited boos from her heavily-Republican crowds. She soon dropped the references from her stump speech.

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Sen. Obama is ahead in four states and nationally in Wednesday's CNN polls of polls.

(CNN) – CNN’s latest polls of polls show Barack Obama leading John McCain in Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida — but slipping slightly nationally and in Florida, losing one point in each.

In CNN’s first Nevada poll of polls, Obama leads McCain by 3 percentage points. The Illinois senator has the support of 49 percent of likely voters in Nevada, while 46 percent support the Arizona senator. Five percent of likely voters in Nevada are unsure about their choice for president.

In CNN’s latest Ohio poll of polls, Obama has increased his advantage over McCain. In Ohio, Obama is now ahead of McCain by five percentage points with support from 50 percent of likely voters in the state compared to support from 45 percent for McCain. Five percent of likely voters in the state are unsure about who they prefer. In CNN’s September 21 Ohio poll of polls, Obama was ahead of McCain by a single point – 47 percent versus 46 percent.

In Pennsylvania, Obama has also increased his advantage. CNN’s October 3 Pennsylvania poll of polls showed Obama ahead by 10 percentage points – 51 percent versus 41 percent. In the new Pennsylvania poll of polls released Tuesday, Obama is ahead by 12 points. The Democratic nominee has the support of 52 percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania, while the Republican nominee has the support of 40 percent of likely voters. In Pennsylvania. Eight percent of likely voters are unsure about their choice for president.

Nationally, Obama leads McCain by four points in CNN’s latest national poll of polls. Forty-eight percent of voters support Obama while 44 percent support McCain; 8 percent of voters aren’t sure about who they support. In CNN’s October 7 national poll of polls, Obama was ahead by 5 percentage points – 49 percent for Obama and 44 percent for McCain.

Obama has also lost a point in CNN's latest Florida poll of polls. Forty-nine percent of likely voters in Florida support Obama, 45 percent support McCain, and 6 percent are unsure about who they support for president. In CNN's October 2 Florida poll of polls Obama was ahead of McCain by five points — 49 percent to Obama's 44 percent.

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Officials from the State of Nevada served a search warrant Tuesday on the Las Vegas office of ACORN.

(CNN) – Nevada state officials served a search warrant on the Las Vegas office of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now Tuesday.

The search was “the result of an ongoing investigation into allegations of voter registration fraud,” according to the Nevada Secretary of State’s office.

“There are allegations that a number of registration applications were completed with false information, and other applications on which attempted to register the same person multiple times,” Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller said in a statement, adding that the office had “been told some of allegedly erroneous applications even included the names of players from the Dallas Cowboys football team.”

ACORN denied any intentional wrongdoing on the organization’s part. “When we have identified suspicious applications, we have separated them out and flagged them for election officials,” Interim Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis said in a statement released after the raid. “We have zero tolerance for fraudulent registrations. We immediately dismiss employees we suspect of
submitting fraudulent registrations.”

Listen: ACORN, Project Vote on Tuesday's raid

The group’s Southwest regional director, Matthew Henderson, told reporters any errors on the forms were unintentional. “There were some people that, you know, probably sat down on a couch and filled out names out of a phone book,” he said. “And so, when we talk about fraud, that’s really what we’re talking about here. Not an attempt to steal an election. We’re talking about an attempt for someone to get out of doing some real hard work.” Henderson also said that ACORN’s canvassers are paid by the hour, and not per registration, as some of its critics had alleged.

In partnership with Project Vote, ACORN recently completed a voter registration drive in 21 states. The groups said 1.3 million people were registered during the joint voter drive. They also said approximately 80,000 new voters were registered in Clark County, Nevada, where Las Vegas is located.

Obama is up in new CNN polls.

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) – New polls in five crucial battleground states that could decide the race for the White House suggest Barack Obama is making some major gains.

CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls released Wednesday afternoon of likely voters in Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada and Virginia suggest a shift towards the Democratic presidential nominee.

In Florida, the state that decided it all in the 2000 presidential election, 51 percent of likely voters say Obama is their choice for president, with 47 percent backing Republican presidential nominee John McCain. The last CNN poll taken in Florida showed the race for the state's 27 electoral votes all tied at 48 percent apiece, among registered voters. A new CNN Poll of Polls in Florida, also out Wednesday afternoon, has Obama over McCain by 5 points. The CNN Poll of Polls is an average of the new CNN poll and other new state polls.

"The campaign season is like the hurricane season. Florida lies directly in its path. Hurricane Obama hit Florida, and Hurricane McCain. Tropical Storms Biden and Palin made landfall in the Sunshine State. The impact? Over the last two weeks, Barack Obama has been gaining support in Florida," says CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

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Edwards said Sunday he's in it for the long haul.

(CNN) — After a crushing loss in Nevada's Democratic caucuses Saturday, presidential candidate John Edwards said Sunday that he hopes "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

Edwards placed a distant third in the vote, with just 4 percent of the vote, behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

“I got my butt kicked. That is what happened in Nevada,” the former North Carolina senator told Wolf Blitzer on CNN’s Late Edition. “And the job for me now is — I have learned this from my whole life experience, is when you get knocked down, you have got to get up. You have got to get up and start fighting again…

“I would kind of like to go back to the old Las Vegas saying, though. You know, ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’? I hope that turns out to be true in this case.”

Instead of campaigning in Nevada in the days before Saturday’s vote, Edwards focused instead on stumping in his birth state of South Carolina, where he won the 2004 primary.

Edwards is running a distant third in the state in most recent surveys, behind Obama and Clinton.

Saturday night, after his disappointing Nevada finish, his campaign tried to downplay the importance of results in any one state. "The race to the nomination is a marathon and not a sprint,” said Edwards’ campaign manager, former Rep. David Bonior. “The nomination won't be decided by win-loss records, but by delegates, and we're ready to fight for every delegate.”

On Sunday, Edwards continued to sound a cautious theme, saying South Carolina was “important,” but just one “part of the long process. …We will see how it goes.”

Related video: Watch Edwards' Late Edition interview with Wolf Blitzer

– CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

There is some confusion on who won more delegates in Nevada.

(CNN) — There are several possible answers: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and no one, and each answer is correct to some degree.

The purpose of Saturday’s caucuses was to elect delegates to next month’s county conventions, where delegates to the state convention in April will be chosen. It isn’t until this April meeting where the state’s 25 delegates to the national convention in Denver will actually be selected.

Hillary Clinton indisputably won the battle for county convention delegates, nabbing at least 5,300 compared to about 4,800 for Obama.

However, one could argue that Barack Obama won the battle for national convention delegates – even though no national delegates were actually awarded tonight – if you assume that the national convention delegates would be allocated in proportion to Saturday’s caucus results. CNN, the Associated Press, and other news organizations adopted this approach and estimated that Obama would go on to win 13 national convention delegates to 12 for Clinton if both candidates remained in the race by the time of the state convention in April.

But how is it possible that Clinton could win a majority of county convention delegates and not go on to win a majority of national convention delegates?

Under state party rules, Nevada’s 25 national convention delegates were divided up across Nevada’s three congressional districts. Then, the party took the additional step of dividing the Second Congressional District into three parts: Washoe county in northwestern Nevada which includes Reno; parts of Clark county in the southeast near Las Vegas; and then the rural and sparsely populated but geographically vast counties that make up the rest of the state.

Of those three subdivisions, Clinton's best showing was concentrated in the Las Vegas area in Clark county, while Obama beat her in Washoe and in the rural counties. Obama’s win in these two key areas, which were worth more national delegates than the area Clinton won, enabled him to overcome Clinton’s estimated lead in national delegates in the rest of the state.

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(CNN) – You know you're in Vegas when victory at a caucus precinct comes in the form of a card draw.

On Saturday, Sen. Hillary Clinton won the caucus at Mojave High School in North Las Vegas when one of her supporters pulled out the queen of hearts — besting the 10 of spades for Obama.

Tom Komenda, a Clinton supporter, told CNN there was an even number of supporters for the two candidates — 48 each. But the caucus had five delegates, so they couldn't be split evenly.

How to break the tie? A good old fashioned card draw.

Komenda — who sent CNN the story via I-Report — said a sealed deck was unwrapped. But as the shuffling started, he was concerned that the shuffler might have been shuffling in a way that exposed the faces of the cards to some of the nervous onlookers.

"I said, 'Wait wait wait — if we have to do this idiotic thing with cards, we're going to shuffle them the way they're supposed to be shuffled,'" he told CNN, laughing. "Then they said, 'If you want to shuffle, come down here and shuffle. So I went down and shuffled!"

Komenda says an Obama supporter drew first, and up came the ten of spades. Next, a Clinton supporter drew, and a queen of hearts decided the tie-breaker in favor of Clinton. So the final delegate count was two delegates for Obama, and three for Clinton.

It all ended, he said, in "cheers from one side of the room, groans and boos from the other."

Those cheering ended up rewarding Komenda — he was chosen to be one of the delegates for Clinton.

–CNN's Josh Levs

Hillary Clinton did poorly among African-American voters in Nevada, according to entrance polls. (Photo Credit: AP)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — African Americans overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama in the Nevada caucuses, just as they did in the Michigan Democratic primary last week — a trend that could hurt Hillary Clinton in next Saturday’s South Carolina primary, where black voters are expected to make up half the electorate.

Black voters made up 16 percent of Democratic Nevada caucus-goers — and roughly 80 percent of them voted for Obama, according to entrance polls. Clinton won support from 16 percent of black voters.

In Michigan's Democratic primary Tuesday — a contest that was rendered meaningless after party sanctions — roughly 70 percent of African-American voters did not cast their votes for Clinton, choosing the “uncommitted” option instead. According to CNN exit polls, those voters overwhelmingly favored Barack Obama, whose name did not appear on the ballot.

Had Obama’s name been on the Michigan ballot, CNN exit polls showed that he would have won an overwhelming 73 percent of the African-American vote, in contrast to 22 percent who say they would have voted for Clinton under those circumstances.

If South Carolina’s large African-American community votes as Michigan's and now Nevada's, Hillary may not be feeling much ‘southern hospitality’ in that state.

African-Americans have long been firm supporters of both former President Bill Clinton — dubbed the first 'black president' by author Toni Morrison — and Hillary Clinton. But a high profile spat earlier this month between the New York senator and Obama over the issue of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy may have done some damage to Clinton's favorability numbers among some in the African-American community.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) — Hours after Clinton campaign officials told reporters they were worried about instances of voter intimidation in Nevada, the Obama campaign made similar allegations.

In a statement, campaign manager David Plouffe said there had been more than 200 separate reports of “incidents of trouble” at caucus locations, including early closings, a shortage of registration forms, and random and non-uniform I.D. checks.

“This is in addition to the Clinton campaign’s efforts to confuse voters and call into question the at-large caucus sites which clearly had an affect on turnout at these locations,” said Plouffe. “These kinds of Clinton campaign tactics were part of an entire week’s worth of false, divisive, attacks designed to mislead caucus-goers and discredit the caucus itself.”

He added that the campaign had a hotline number for concerned voters to call, and planned to investigate all of the incidents reported Saturday.

Related video: Bill Clinton talks tactics

Democrats are split among race, age, and gender, according to Nevada entrance polls.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Nevada entrance polls indicate deep divisions among race, gender, and age in the Democratic presidential race.

Among black voters, Barack Obama bested Hillary Clinton 79 percent to 16 percent. (Black voters constituted 16 percent of Nevada caucus goers.)

Among women voters, Clinton bested Obama 58 percent to 35 percent — a cornerstone of Clinton's win in the state, since women made up roughly 60 percent of Nevada caucus goers.

Finally, the younger the caucus-goer, the more likely he or she supported Obama. The Illinois senator overwhelmingly beat Clinton among 18-29 year-olds (57 percent to 30 percent) and edged out Clinton among 30-44 year olds (42 percent to 30 percent).

But the New York senator edged out Obama among 45-49 year olds (46 percent to 39 percent) and easily beat him among those caucus-goers 60 and older (61 percent to 28 percent.) Those two statistics were particularly good news for Clinton, since roughly two-thirds of Saturday’s caucus-goers were over 45.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) – Another contest, another day of record turnout for Democrats.

The Nevada Democratic Party reports that with 84 percent of the precincts reporting, they are seeing unprecedented turnout, with more than 107,000 caucus attendees.

This follows record turnouts for Democrats in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

The numbers are unsurprising, given the fact that most national polls have indicated for quite some time that Democrats are incredibly energized about the 2008 presidential election.

Fewer than 10,000 people attended the 2004 Nevada caucuses, but that contest was much later in the primary season, with very little at stake.

The national Democratic Party decided to move up Nevada's date to the middle of January to make the state, which has a large union and Latino Democratic electorate, more of a primary season player.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was instrumental in moving his state's contest up earlier in the primary process.

He called today's turnout a "tremendous success."

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) – If you weren’t supporting Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama at the caucus held Saturday at Caesar’s Palace, then you were caught in some pretty aggressive crossfire.

Early reports showed that the at-large caucuses on Las Vegas’ famed Strip were fairly evenly divided between Obama and Clinton, and at Caesar’s the two sides didn’t mind voicing their support. The senators’ corners volleyed chants back and forth and often crossed the invisible line that separated them in the middle of the ballroom to bait the other side.

On several occasions the back-and-forth grew heated, with rumors of false information and unfair lobbying of undecideds swirling among caucus-goers.

Clinton supporters from the Steel Workers’ Union held signs saying “I Support my Union, I Support Hillary.” Since the at-large caucuses we targeting workers from Culinary Union which endorsed Obama, the Obama supporters felt Clinton supporters were misleading undecided Culinary workers.

In the end, of the 33 delegates allotted to Caesar’s, 17 went to Obama and 16 to Clinton. The six caucus-goers (of 167) who weren’t supporting Obama or Clinton quietly slipped their second choices to the caucus chair so the warring factions wouldn’t swarm them. Four went for Obama, one for Hillary, and the last decided not to commit.

– CNN Nevada Producer Alexander Marquardt

LAS VEGAS (CNN) — With solid backing from Latino voters and women overall, Sen. Hillary Clinton has claimed her second win of the Democratic presidential race in Saturday's Nevada caucuses, CNN projects.

Entrance polls indicated Democrats were split along ethnic, racial and generational lines. But women made up nearly 60 percent of those taking part in Saturday's contest, and the New York senator and former first lady led her top rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, by a margin of 52 percent to 35 percent among those voters.

Clinton, who won last week's New Hampshire primary, was winning the Latino vote by a nearly 3-1 margin in Nevada, according to entrance polls. Latinos make up about a quarter of the state's population and 14 percent of caucus participants, those polls found.

Saturday's contest marked the first time a Western state has played an early role in the presidential race, and Democrats are counting on Latino voters to help the party make inroads into the region in 2008.

Clinton won big in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas — home to about 1.7 million of the state's population of 2.6 million. Clinton led Obama by about 11 percentage points in the county with 90 percent of its precincts reporting.

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(CNN) — As Nevada Democrats gathered for the state’s caucuses Saturday, Hillary Clinton’s campaign told reporters their supporters were worried about voter intimidation – just hours after former President Bill Clinton said he had personally witnessed voter harassment.

CNN has since projected that Hillary Clinton has won Saturday’s Democratic vote in Nevada.

“We have heard from many people on the ground over the past few days who are concerned about voter intimidation,” spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a conference call with reporters.

Spokeswoman Karen Hicks said many casino workers had thought they could only participate in caucuses at the controversial at-large caucus sites if they supported Barack Obama, and that the Clinton campaign had heard reports of confusion and voter intimidation.

Friday night, Bill Clinton told a Nevada crowd that he and his daughter Chelsea had visited a hotel, and seen a union representative trying to strong-arm Clinton supporters.

“Today when my daughter and I were wandering through the hotel, and all these culinary workers were mobbing us telling us they didn’t care what the union told them to do, they were gonna caucus for Hillary,” he said.

“There was a representative of the organization following along behind us going up to everybody who said that, saying 'if you’re not gonna vote for our guy were gonna give you a schedule tomorrow so you can’t be there.' So, is this the new politics? I haven’t seen anything like that in America in 35 years. So I will say it again – they think they're better than you.”

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(CNN) — The Obama campaign released a recording Saturday that they said was a last-minute negative robo-call received by a Nevada voter.

The call attacks the Illinois senator and emphasizes his little-used middle name, repeatedly referring to “Barack Hussein Obama.” The Obama campaign posted an mp3 of the call on the Internet. (outside link)

"I'm calling with some important information about Barack Hussein Obama," says the anonymous caller. "Barack Hussein Obama says he doesn't take money from Washington lobbyists or special interest groups, but the record is clear that he does."

The male voice concludes: "You just can't take a chance on Barack Hussein Obama."

–CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

LAS VEGAS (CNN) – Mitt Romney, who CNN projects has won the Republican caucuses in Nevada with 46 percent of the vote, scored well with voters who ranked the economy and illegal immigration as the issues that concern them most, according to early entrance polls.

The former Massachusetts governor also benefited from his Mormon religion, the poll results show. Romney captured 94 percent of the voters who identified themselves as Mormon, which made up 25 percent of all Republicans participating in the GOP caucuses. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints estimates there are 170,000 members living in Nevada.

While Romney appears on his way to an easy victory in Nevada, several Republican contenders are in a tight battle for second place.

CNN's projections are based on precincts reporting results, entrance polls and other statistical models — including the number of votes outstanding in areas where the candidates were expected to do well.

"Today, the people of Nevada voted for change in Washington," Romney said in a statement released by his campaign. "Whether it is reforming health care, making America energy independent or securing the border, the American people have been promised much and are now ready for change.

"The need for change is even more apparent today as our economy faces challenges both here at home and abroad," Romney said. "For decades, we have talked about the long-term economic challenges confronting our country but the tax burden is too high, business is stifled by regulations and more money goes to defending against junk lawsuits than promoting research and innovation."

Entrance poll results showed that the economy and illegal immigration ranked first and second on the minds of GOP voters with 38 percent and 34 percent, respectively.

Romney also won over veterans, late deciders and rural voters — although the entrance polls show a closer race in Washoe County, home of Reno, Nevada's second largest city, than in Las Vegas and Clark County, the state's largest metropolitan area.

–CNN's Mark Preston and Keating Holland