By Agencies

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With a huge lead in polls, US Republican front-runner Mitt Romney appeared poised for an easy win in the Nevada caucus that would put him in firm command of the party's presidential nominating race.

A Nevada victory on Saturday would be Romney's second win in a row and his third in the first five contests in the state-by-state battle to find a Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in November's general election.

Two polls taken this week in Nevada showed the former Massachusetts governor with a lead of 20 points or more over top rival Newt Gingrich, after recapturing his front-runner status with a convincing win in Florida on Tuesday.

The caucuses began at many of the 125 sites around Nevada on Saturday morning, although final results were not expected until later that evening.

Friendly territory

Nevada, which has a faltering economy and a big Mormon population, is friendly territory for Romney, a Mormon and former head of a private equity firm.

He captured 51 per cent of the vote in 2008 to win the state during his failed 2008 presidential bid.

He has stressed his business background as a cure for the ailing economy in Nevada, which has the country's highest state unemployment rate, 12.6 per cent in December, and the highest home foreclosure rate.

"This has been a tough three years," Romney told supporters in Henderson, Nevada, outside Las Vegas, on Friday night at his last campaign stop before the vote.

"It's time now for Barack Obama to get out of the way."

One Republican voter in Pahrump, a town near Las Vegas, told Al Jazeera, "I think the consensus is that we dont need socialism, and that's how we feel about Obama."

Romney hopes Nevada's caucuses will launch a February winning streak that could position him for a knockout blow to his main rival, Newt Gingrich, during the 10 "Super Tuesday" contests on March 6.

Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri will have nominating contests on Tuesday. Maine will wrap up its weeklong caucuses next Saturday, and Arizona and Michigan hold February 28 contests.

Romney won Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine and Michigan during his failed 2008 presidential bid.

He came in second in Arizona to native son and eventual nominee John McCain, an Arizona senator, and finished third in Missouri.