Not to be outdone by President Bush, John Kerry plans a Nevada campaign blitz beginning after the Democratic National Convention, party officials said.

Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Kerry will answer Bush's all-out offensive in Nevada.

Bush gave a campaign speech Friday in Reno to nearly 10,000 people. Vice President Dick Cheney plans to visit Henderson today. Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, attended fund-raisers June 12 in Reno and Las Vegas.

"We're going to have to do the same things; we're going to have to do more," McAuliffe said. "John Kerry will visit the state many times."

The Democratic presidential challenger is expected to visit Reno sometime after the convention in late July, said Chris Wicker, Washoe County Democratic Party chairman.

Kerry has visited Las Vegas twice but needs to come to Reno if he's going to carry Nevada, Wicker said.

"With this visit by Bush, it applies additional pressure to come," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "In a close race like this, 30 percent of the vote is worth fighting for."

Nevada is considered a key battleground state in what's expected to be a close November election.