Winning Las Vegas - Oscar Goodman's electoral campaign for the mayorship of Las Vegas, Nevada

How an anti-Establishment populist was elected mayor of America's fastest-growing city

At one time, his clients had nicknames like "The Ant," "Lefty" and "The Animal." But Oscar Goodman's first flight of ads as a mayoral candidate was designed to show that this charismatic candidate was more - much more - than a mob lawyer.

The headlines in the nation's top newspapers said it all: "Mob Lawyer elected Mayor of Sin City." Every newscast had a blurb, top news magazines ran articles and comedians like Jay Leno and David Letterman couldn't help but poke fun at the irony of it all.

The recent election of defense attorney Oscar Goodman as Mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada, caught the attention of press around the world and, like the election last year of Gov. Jesse Ventura in Minnesota, signaled a shake-up of the status quo.

Goodman overcame a daunting past, with his work defending notorious underworld figures with nicknames like "The Ant," "Lefty" and "The Animal." While few insiders gave him a chance when he filed, a month later he nearly won the race outright in the primary.

But what is being heralded as one of the biggest underdog victories in Nevada history could have easily been squashed were it not for a bit of luck, a flawless campaign and opponents who just didn't take Goodman's candidacy seriously enough.

Lucky Strikes

The race to succeed Mayor Jan Jones, who decided not to seek a third term after coming off a tough loss in her second bid to become governor of Nevada in 1998, started off like many other elections in the Silver State. The political Establishment, made up mainly of gaming, real estate developers and other business interests, had thrown their considerable support behind one candidate - former Clark County Commissioner Jay Bingham.

Bingham had locked up most of the top political consultants and grassroots support. A popular leader before his retirement from the commission in '96, Bingham longed to get back into political life. A successful land developer, he missed the excitement of politics and wanted to get back into the action.

He announced his candidacy even before Mayor Jones decided to withdraw, forcing her hand and eventually compelling her to make a decision to leave office or face another potentially tough campaign. Early polls showed Bingham with respectable name identification and high favorables. He ran a double-truck newspaper advertisement two weeks before the close of filing announcing his candidacy with testimonials from prominent Las Vegans.

Only three other candidates with any public recognition joined Bingham on the ballot: Councilman Arnie Adamsen, developer Mark Fine and Goodman. All were immediately considered underdogs. Fine and Goodman had nothing even resembling a campaign in place when they filed. Goodman had waited until the last day of filing before jumping in.

Then, two days after candidate filing closed, Bingham dropped a bombshell. With the race all but won before it even began, he announced he was dropping out due to health reasons. An old heart problem had recurred and his doctor had advised him that the stress of a campaign could prove fatal.

Bingham's support and his strong campaign team were suddenly up for grabs. Most pundits immediately anointed Adamsen as the favorite. A likable public official, Adamsen had been on the council for 12 years and had always enjoyed strong support from the state's major industries.

He didn't, however, have the kind of close personal and political relationships that Bingham had with top power brokers, despite his 12 years in local office. Adamsen's campaign immediately assumed that it would be the beneficiary of Bingham's departure. It was an assumption that would prove to be fatal.

While Adamsen tried to play the role of a frontrunner, Goodman's campaign started to gather momentum. A prominent attorney who had made his reputation and considerable fortune representing mobsters like Tony "the Ant" Spilotro and Meyer Lansky, Goodman had charisma to burn. For years consultants had told him he had too much baggage to win an election. After all, he played himself in movies like "Casino" and had just recently completed a documentary on his life entitled "Mob Law." This time, however, he had decided to ignore their warnings and file for office.

Known only to his select inner circle, Goodman had commissioned a poll by Mason/Dixon before he joined the fray. That survey showed he had good name recognition and may have a chance to win the race. Old-time Las Vegans, who were likely to make up much of the voting pool for this citywide race, didn't care much about his past. He would need to run an excellent campaign, however, and successfully combat the negatives that were sure to come his way.

Because Bingham had vacuumed up most of the local political talent, Goodman at first turned to non-political pros to run his campaign. He brought in a friend, local adman Tom Letizia, to serve as campaign manager and consultants Mark Fierro and Ron Bell for media, neither of whom had a particularly strong record in local politics.

When Bingham dropped out, several of his consultants began looking for other campaigns. Adamsen had a team in place, and it wasn't recruiting new members. It was headed up by campaign veteran Lindsey Lewis, who came to Nevada the previous year to work for Democrat Jones in her gubernatorial campaign. Lewis had few local connections and reportedly shunned assistance from experienced Las Vegas campaign gurus like Kent Oram, one of Southern Nevada's best known consultants. Oram had helped Adamsen in the past but this time went over to Goodman, who gladly accepted his help.

Adamsen had picked up endorsements from nearly every labor organization in Southern Nevada, including the all-important police and fire unions. In addition, he landed an endorsement from the Culinary Union, a powerful labor organization with a strong grassroots operation.

While Adamsen kept his campaign team intact, Goodman was quick to solicit the newly available talent, and soon landed the services of Jim Ferrence, a partner with Paladin Advertising. Ferrence was a seasoned veteran of numerous local campaigns. He brought in Paladin's grassroots specialist, Tom Ayres, and went about setting up an organization that included volunteer and paid phone banks and paid walkers. This would prove to be crucial in what was predicted to be a very low-turnout election.

While Adamsen relished his position as the supposed front runner, Goodman's new team went to work identifying favorable voters and spreading their candidate's populist message. The polls had always shown Goodman with strong name identification. Now, however, they started to show that people liked what he was saying. Goodman's paid phone banks began to identify supporters by the thousands.

Even though the state's largest paper had come out early against Goodman, publishing an editorial at one point calling for anyone but Goodman, his charisma and straightforward approach was winning people over. A series of television spots was produced with Goodman in front of the camera, stating his beliefs and promoting populist ideas like impact fees on developers and overnight road construction. In the fastest growing city in America, the effusive attorney struck a chord by saying new growth should pay for itself.

Ferrence and Letizia began the media campaign knowing full well that the only way a candidate with Goodman's past could be successful was to define himself before he could be defined. A month before the primary election, they planned an aggressive TV and radio flight.

One 30-second television spot showcased Goodman's four children, showing how proud he was of their accomplishments and that they were his real success story (each has attained advanced degrees from top-tier universities).

Another highly effective spot entitled "Fed TV" contained endorsements from high-ranking law enforcement officials. This commercial went a long way towards inoculating against the inevitable mob lawyer attacks. It was especially helpful in moving Republican voters to Goodman's side.

These spots and accompanying mailers did the job. They softened Goodman's image and showed voters he was more - much more than a mob lawyer.

These and other campaign materials, such as a letter from the attorney's 84-year-old mother, were extremely potent in two key demographic targets - seniors and female voters. Polling had shown that these groups were most likely to be affected by negative attacks on Goodman's past. Now they had something about him to like.

Able to Stay Positive

What made these spots and mailers even more effective was that Adamsen did nothing to counter them. By the time he realized his campaign was in trouble, it was already getting too late to effectively attack Goodman, which he did anyway in late April, 10 days before the May 4 primary.

Goodman was able to stay positive for one reason: the third person in the race, Mark Fine, began pummeling Adamsen for being a do-nothing incumbent and attacking him on his Sister Cities Program affiliation, in which he made numerous trips to the Far East. Adamsen responded with attacks on Fine, which also was helpful to Goodman.

In Las Vegas, the top two vote-getters in the primary move onto the general election, unless one candidate gets a 50 percent plus one vote majority. Figuring his only chance was to bring down Adamsen and move into the second spot, Fine continued to hammer the councilman.

Ferrence and Letizia's early polling reportedly showed Fine was vulnerable because of his status as a developer. But the campaign chose not to attack on the basis that Fine was not a serious factor in the race.

Ironically, what finally made Goodman the frontrunner was a poll released at the end of March by Adamsen's campaign. Thinking he was helping his own fundraising efforts, Adamsen publicized a survey showing he and Goodman in a dead heat for first place. The councilman figured that the Las Vegas business and political Establishment, scared to death by the thought of a Mayor Goodman, would scramble to his aid. Instead, Goodman gained new momentum - and support.

Adamsen also released a poll of southern-California tourists showing they would be wary if Goodman won. It was widely panned, however, and since southern Californians don't vote for mayor of Las Vegas it did little to help the councilman's cause. Goodman's own polling showed the visitor argument didn't wash with voters. They were less concerned about the city's image than the were about potholes, rampant development and traffic tie-ups.

Adamsen's campaign ran well-produced, warm-and-fuzzy spots showcasing the councilman's accomplishments without offering strong new plans or ideas. Public response to the ads was lukewarm. At this same time, Adamsen also unleashed an ad barrage against his two opponents, blaming developer Fine for much of the city's growth problems and hitting Goodman on past statements he had made in the media.

One Adamsen spot featured quotes Goodman had made prior to the 1995 mayor's race, when he had considered becoming a candidate. Goodman had told a reporter that he would make a terrible mayor. By that point in the campaign, however, the public had been desensitized to Goodman's outrageous comments, and the spot fell on deaf ears.

Another spot used comments Goodman had made years before while co-hosting a television show. His role in the program was to play devil's advocate, debating issues against a former county prosecutor.

The Adamsen spot which drew the most response used Goodman's words opposing Megan's Law, which requires sex offenders to register with police when moving into a neighborhood. It was coupled with a tough attack mail piece.

From the beginning, most political observers believed Goodman would be vulnerable based on his mob attorney persona and outlandish media comments. However, his opponents failed to frame their attacks before the popular attorney was able to defuse them. By the time the attacks materialized, he had shown people that he was an intelligent family man with a vision for the city's future.

Goodman and his family worked hard on the campaign trail, attending every major event and returning phone calls well into the night. Goodman would spend 12 to 14 hours a day campaigning, meeting voters one-on-one. He was able to connect with voters of every walk of life, regardless of race, religion or economic background.

On primary night, May 4th, Goodman barely missed winning an outright majority. He received 49 percent of the vote to 29 percent for Adamsen, 16 percent for Fine and 6 percent for the rest of the field. Turnout was 25 percent, with only 49,000 out of 195,000 possible voters casting ballots.

Pouring In

Goodman's campaign was busy the day after the primary, collecting money and fielding phone calls from the campaign's many new friends. At 7 a.m., chief fundraiser Tom Letizia was working the phones. The last hold-outs climbed on board and the contributions poured in.

Adamsen was on the phones himself, but was finding out how Goodman's strong primary showing was drying up his fundraising base. Adamsen was also weakened by the loss of full support from the unions. Kent Oram, who had joined the Goodman team, reportedly made every effort to ensure that labor didn't gear up for Adamsen at full power.

Meanwhile, Ferrence continued to push the staff and volunteers. By election day, the campaign had made one million phone calls, sent out 250,000 mail pieces, and visited 90,000 households. It had also identified 25,000 firm supporters, who were reached by Goodman's aggressive GOTV efforts.

Goodman's team kept a wary eye for potential pitfalls - Goodman's "say anything" debate approach worried many insiders- but no major slips occurred. Adamsen had little money and did no television ads or districtwide mailers in the runoff. His ground forces were unable to generate enthusiasm for their beleaguered candidate.

On election night, with a host of national media in attendance, one-time underdog Goodman celebrated a 65 percent (32,500 votes) to 35 percent (17,500 votes) victory.

Goodman's campaign proved that while celebrity status helps jumpstart a campaign with early name recognition, the most important element in any campaign is to define yourself before your opponent or the media has a chance to define you.

And that, for Oscar Goodman and Las Vegas, made the final difference.

30-SECOND TV SPOT

"Fed-TV"

Goodman for Mayor

Producer/Consultant

Mark Fierro & Associates

ANNOUNCER: Oscar Goodman's courtroom adversaries....

BURK SMITH: In my experience, he never misrepresented any fact, he worked very, very hard for his clients, but it was all on the up and up. I was always impressed.

RICHARD CRANE: Oscar was always one of the best examples of a guy that was a very vigorous tough fighter. But he never crossed the line.

LAMOND MILLS: I think he'll come at the problems in this town and everyone will know where Oscar Goodman stands on the issues. Because he'll tell you loud and clear. That will be really refreshing. Really refreshing.

ANNOUNCER: Oscar Goodman.... Imagine what his friends say about him.

Michael Sullivan is a Las Vegas-based government affairs and political consultant with Paladin Advertising, a firm that worked for Oscar Goodman's campaign. He also writes a monthly political column for The Nevada Business Journal.

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