Columnist Jeff German: Donnybrook brewing at City Hall in 1999 mayor’s race

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998 | 11:34 a.m.

The holidays may be upon us, but at City Hall some staffers are looking past the cheer into the political perils that lie ahead next year.

On the horizon is a potentially monstrous mayor's race between two councilmen that could affect the job security of key city workers.

There's just one catch. The fireworks hinge on whether Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones has the desire to run for a third term following her defeat last month in the hard-fought race for governor.

If she does, City Councilmen Arnie Adamsen and Michael McDonald probably will cancel their plans to run for mayor and avoid a nasty showdown that could leave political casualties all over City Hall.

Rumors, however, have been rampant that Jones may not be interested in going through another race so soon after her tough campaign for governor.

Democrats, you'll recall, persuaded Jones to run against the well-financed Republican Guinn at the last minute. Word is she was offered a high-level job in the Clinton administration if she lost.

Her candidacy was said to be crucial to the ability of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., to attract women to the polls in his re-election battle with Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev. As it turned out, Reid needed all the votes he could get. He won by a slim margin of 401.

Jones, who waged a heroic campaign that came within 10 points of Guinn, did not seem unhappy on election night. She appeared upbeat, cordial and very statesmanlike, almost as if she knew something we didn't.

So far, the mayor hasn't indicated whether she wants to go through another race so soon after her defeat. But that hasn't prevented Adamsen and McDonald from exploring their own possible campaigns.

If Adamsen and McDonald are pitted against each other next year, there'll be lots of bullets flying.

"It'll be a war," one City Hall insider says. "The staff is prepared to go into their foxholes and hide for six months. Nobody wants to get caught in the cross fire."

Lately, Adamsen and McDonald have been working together to further the city's interests. But relations between the two still are strained from last year when McDonald engineered a move, backed by Jones, to dump Adamsen as mayor pro-tem. In the coup, McDonald landed the No. 2 job, as well as Adamsen's prized seat on the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

It won't take much to reopen old wounds if Adamsen and McDonald go head-to-head in the mayor's race.

Other prominent candidates could be thrown into the mix, too.

Republican maverick Aaron Russo, who backed Jones for governor, is among those mentioned as willing to take the plunge if Jones bows out. Former Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman John O'Reilly also has surfaced as a potential candidate. O'Reilly did little to discourage talk of his candidacy when questioned about it recently.

For the record, Jones has indicated she'll disclose her political plans after the first of the year.

In the meantime, some City Hall staffers aren't taking any chances. They're practicing how to duck out of the line of fire.

If you give Bob Stupak a chance, he'll find a way to screw things up.

At the moment, Stupak has state gaming regulators on his side in his battle to cash $250,000 in $5,000 Horseshoe Club chips.

But some now are wondering how long it will last.

In his zeal to drum up publicity for his cause last week, Stupak took one of his famous giant steps backward when pulling off yet another self-serving stunt.

He hoodwinked the media into believing he was going to pass out some of the $5,000 Horseshoe chips to the homeless on Thanksgiving Day.

We can be pretty dumb sometimes.

When it came time to fulfill his promise, Stupak was observed handing out chocolate replicas of the chips, not the real thing.

The joke was on the media, but Stupak the con-man demonstrated once more why it's hard to take him seriously.

Gaming regulators should know that by now.

The Horseshoe, meanwhile, won't cash the chips until it can verify that Stupak won them at the downtown casino.

As Stupak contemplates his next publicity stunt, the Horseshoe is gearing up to fight back. Word is it has plenty of ammunition.