Obama coming to Las Vegas on Oct. 24

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will travel to Las Vegas on Oct. 24, his first visit in almost a year to the day, Democratic sources confirmed Thursday.

Details of the trip were not immediately available.

Obama’s visit will prolong attention on Las Vegas, coming a week after the Oct. 18 GOP presidential candidates debate at The Venetian, and just a few days after Republicans wrap up a regional conference.

It also will provide Obama a fresh look at the economically troubled city that leads the nation in foreclosures and is suffering with an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent.

The president visited Las Vegas three times in 2010, most recently on Oct. 22 when he headlined a campaign rally for the re-election of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Obama’s most recent trip to Nevada was on April 21, when he made his first visit to Reno for a town hall meeting on the budget deficit.

In the run-up to the Republican events next month, Democrats will hold their own political meeting — Project New West Summit — headlined by Reid, the Senate majority leader.

Democrats plan to meet over two days at the World Market Center on Oct. 16 and 17 to discuss “seminal issues facing the region.”

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Las Vegas Review-Journal writer Laura Myers contributed to this report.