Election ‘99: Survivors vow to wipe slate clean

Erin Neff

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 10:55 a.m.

After an emotional night spent hanging on each precinct's vote tallies, City Councilman Arnie Adamsen and defense attorney Oscar Goodman vowed to wipe the primary slate clean and start campaigning anew today for the June 8 general election that will decide who becomes the next Las Vegas mayor.

Goodman nearly pulled out the necessary 50 percent plus one vote needed to win the election outright last night, falling just 277 votes shy of the amount needed in order for his coronation to begin.

"We're open for business tomorrow," an elated Adamsen said late Tuesday night at his campaign headquarters after the last precinct reported in and showed that Goodman wouldn't climb higher than the 49.44 percent he had already earned. "Now we've got five weeks to just talk about the issues and nothing but the issues."

Just minutes earlier Adamsen's children Arlan and Aricka and wife, Pat, crowded by his side, peering over the shoulders of campaign volunteers clicking nervously on the county's website looking for updated totals.

Even with 97 percent of precincts reporting in, Adamsen beamed confidently that he had made the run-off while his daughter broke down in tears and Pat Adamsen's game face appeared to weaken knowing the three remaining precincts could prove devastating.

Goodman's campaign headquarters downtown were more an old-fashioned block party than a nail biter.

Hundreds of supporters packed the roped-off block at Third Street and Bonneville Avenue screaming as the bank of five television sets showed Goodman's steady rise to the 50 percent plateau earlier in the evening.

"It's not over till the fat lady sings," Goodman said, as the first vote totals came in just after 7 p.m. "With all due respect to fat people and ladies, I mean."

About 90 minutes later, with about half of precincts reporting, Goodman hit the 50 percent mark for which most in the crowd were waiting.

"Let's keep going up," a jubilant Goodman exhorted, pumping his fists in the air above his head and jumping several times in the air.

Some of his law partners began chanting, "We want the O," referring to Goodman's nickname, The Big O.

Developer Mark Fine was never a factor in the race -- finishing with 16 percent of the votes -- well behind Adamsen's second-place 29.3 percent.

Adamsen said Fine's negative television ads ended up hurting Fine, while Goodman pointed the finger at Adamsen for running attacks on his character.

"I told you people are sick of the negative campaigning," Goodman said. "We kept it clean, and we kept to the high road.

"That's why so many people came out to vote for me," he added.

City Clerk Barbara Jo "Roni" Ronemus said about 27 percent of voters turned out for the primary -- a little better than anticipated.

Goodman's campaign manager, Mark Fierro, said he thought part of his candidate's populist appeal resulted in the higher turnout.

"A lot of guys who vote for Oscar aren't real voters in the sense that they always vote," Fierro said. "This is a guy they can identify with and feel strongly about voting for."

Fierro also said he was pleased with Goodman's strong showing and never would have imagined someone garnering close to 50 percent of the votes with eight other candidates in the race if you'd have told him the outcome of the primary months ago.

"He's had 47 percent from the get (go). Hello? He's running against City Hall," Fierro said. "This is way over the top. This showing is phenomenal."

Meanwhile at Adamsen's headquarters, Teamsters, firefighters and culinary union foot soldiers fresh off protests at The Venetian pledged support for the general election.

"The total difference in this race was our get-out-the-vote effort," said Lindsay Lewis, Adamsen's campaign manager, taking a drag on a cigarette, his right hand still shaking from the close call. "The unions helped us, and they're going to be better in the general.

"Oscar was a speeding bullet train we were trying to stop for the past two weeks," Lewis said.

Goodman, 59, received national attention, including recent pieces in Time magazine and The Sunday New York Times, due mostly to his diverse and notorious clientele over the past 35 years as a defense attorney.

Although his representation of reputed mobsters Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and Meyer Lansky, for example, drew criticism from his opponents, Goodman claims tough legal battles have given him the courage to use the mayor's seat as a bully pulpit for each citizen's rights.

Adamsen, 49, who got his first taste of politics during his 1970s grass-roots consumer campaign against Nevada Power Co.'s billing practice, has spent 12 years on the council honing his knowledge for the mayor's job.

Goodman's entry into the race, and rise to front-runner on populist ideals, however, proved a formidable challenge the veteran politician hadn't expected.

A late television ad campaign by Adamsen attempted to cast a shadow over Goodman for his clientele and his past comments on KNBC-Channel 3's "Closing Arguments" program. Goodman once said on that show he would have been the "world's worst mayor."

Fine, 53, is well-respected nationally for his award-winning developments Summerlin in northwest Las Vegas and Green Valley in Henderson. But his ties to developers and lack of commitment to seeking a hike in impact fees on builders didn't help him Tuesday.

Goodman, however, said he would work to raise impact fees in an effort to fund needed parks and other city services.

Perhaps Fine's biggest campaign success was casting doubt about Adamsen's effectiveness as a councilman. In one of Fine's most notable and controversial ads, Adamsen is depicted in a cartoon airplane jetting back and forth to Korea on Sister Cities missions.

Representatives of the Sister Cities Association, the Asian Chamber of Commerce and the local Thai and Korean communities shared drinks and dances outside Adamsen's Decatur Boulevard campaign headquarters.

When the last precinct reported in, Adamsen stepped into a back room with his family for a few quiet moments and then emerged to meet his boisterous supporters, urging the disc jockey to "Play Celebrate."

Then as K.C. and the Sunshine Band's "Celebration" started over for the second time in a row, Adamsen and his wife and children danced under the television spotlights as city staffers looked on sipping beer and heaving sighs of relief.

With Adamsen, Fine and Goodman spending a combined $1.7 million through April 27 -- a number that is expected to rise through to the general election -- the other six candidates had little chance to make their ideas heard.

Radio talk show host Frank LaSpina garnered most of the remaining votes for a showing of 1.9 percent of the total. City Hall watcher Tom McGowan, West Las Vegas activist Anthony Snowden, investment broker Hillary Michael Milko, middle-class advocate Douglas Opolka and former Henderson Mayor Cruz Olague earned a combined 1,515 votes -- all short of 1 percent.

Both Goodman and Adamsen will now be vying for the 10,425 people who voted for someone other than them.

"We wipe the slate clean," Adamsen said. "Now is when it matters."