Expect an escalated election battle for Las Vegas mayor

By Delen Goldberg

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Carolyn Goodman rode husband Mayor Oscar Goodman’s coattails to a dominant victory in Tuesday’s Las Vegas mayoral primary.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani relied on grass-roots support and her get-out-the-vote skills to secure second place in a photo-finish. She beat Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown by 15 votes.

Both candidates must now reset their campaigns and retool their strategies to adapt to a head-to-head contest that will almost certainly include more mudslinging and backroom negotiating than the primary.

To be sure, the candidates will repeat their tried-and-true tactics. Goodman will depend on her husband to boost fundraising and support, and Giunchigliani will reach out to her base of minority groups, first-time voters and union members.

But Giunchigliani also will have to win support from more conservative voters if she hopes to become Las Vegas’ next mayor, while Goodman will be pressed to take a more definitive stance on issues.

Goodman skated to a primary victory on the popularity of her last name. She had built-in support from a network of influential friends cultivated during her husband’s tenure as mayor and her more than two decades running the elite private Meadows School. From the day she announced her candidacy in February, Goodman was considered the front-runner despite this being her first run for office. Tuesday, she won 37 percent of the votes, beating Giunchigliani more than two to one.

But Goodman offered little substance in the primary campaign. She frequently answered policy questions by saying she’ll surround herself with smart people and learn on the job. In an interview last week she showed a stunning lack of knowledge about the DREAM Act and domestic partnerships. The most concrete position she has committed to is following through with “everything that’s been created by the visionary that is my husband.”

“She has gotten a little bit of free ride from name recognition, from the money and the rollout, which is what you’d expect,” UNLV political scientist David Damore said. “Once you get into discussions about public policy, she’s weaker.”

Voters have taken notice.

“Why ride on his reputation?” downtown voter Ara Calogero said, referring to Oscar Goodman.

“The mayor’s wife is just a spokeswoman for him,” Sun City Summerlin voter Douglas Wagner said.

Both voted for Giunchigliani.

Goodman’s approach was strategic: If she says nothing, she can’t alienate voters. But in the general election it will create difficulties, as Giunchigliani is sure to pounce.

So the Goodman campaign will have to decide whether it’s less harmful to take a stand and risk upsetting voters who disagree, or talk in circles and get slammed by her opponent.

Giunchigliani, although full of ideas, will have to contend with some voters’ perception that she’s a tax-and-spend liberal. She’s furthest left of all the candidates who sought the mayor’s job, and several opponents have slammed her for being a career politician.

To counter that criticism, Giunchigliani will try to win endorsements from her former opponents, namely Brown and businessman Victor Chaltiel. Both finished strong in the polls, especially among Sun City Summerlin voters, a key demographic that skews more conservative and votes in larger numbers.

She seems to have Brown on her side. He vowed Tuesday night to endorse a Democrat. Giunchigliani is a Democrat; Goodman is an independent.

If Giunchigliani can draw enough of Brown’s support and win over Chaltiel, she could cut into Goodman’s lead. Both men were touted for their business and budget savvy, and their endorsements could assure some voters and give credence to Giunchigliani’s claims that she is a budget hawk who can create jobs.

It will be a difficult task. Sun City residents came down hard on Giunchigliani during a primary debate, blaming her for failing to identify and stop overtime and sick leave abuses by county firefighters.

Insiders say conversations among the candidates have taken place, and talk about endorsements in the general election is ongoing.

“The first thing the campaigns are going to do is go look and see who turned out to vote and who didn’t vote for Carolyn,” Damore said.

But not all endorsements are created equal, and the question remains whether any of the losers will actively campaign for the winners.

If they do, Giunchigliani could have a leg up since relations between the Goodmans and Brown and Chaltiel are strained. Oscar Goodman told Brown (and Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross) for more than a year that Carolyn Goodman would not seek the mayor’s job, and she and Chaltiel have been at odds during several debates and public appearances.