Casinos throw cash at Goodman campaign

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 11:18 a.m.

The Strip power brokers are lining up behind Oscar Goodman in the mayor's race, as the latest political polls show him holding a commanding lead over City Councilman Arnie Adamsen.

Money has been pouring into Goodman's campaign the last three weeks from the likes of Mirage Resorts and Circus Circus properties and other big-name gaming companies once worried about backing the criminal defense attorney who has vowed to shake up the political establishment.

At the same time, the 45,000-member Culinary Union, which had endorsed Adamsen in the primary, has withdrawn its support for the three-term city councilman who is trailing by 35 points in a new poll of voters conducted by Mirage Resorts.

Culinary Union secretary-treasurer Jim Arnold, who has cordial ties with the casino industry, said Wednesday that Local 226 will remain neutral until the June 8 election and that he has informed both Goodman and Adamsen of his union's intentions.

That means Adamsen, who now is banking on his "ground game" to cut into Goodman's lead, can't count on the traditional Culinary grassroots support the last two weeks of the race. In the past, the union has sent its members door-to-door campaigning for candidates it has endorsed.

"We're just kind of staying out of it now," Arnold said. "There's no way anyone in organized labor will say anything against Oscar."

Arnold said he decided to back away from Adamsen after drawing "heat" from his members over the union's endorsement.

"We have too many other priorities to get involved in the mayor's race," he said.

Adamsen, who walked the picket line for the Culinary Union during the Venetian soft opening earlier this month, appeared taken aback by Arnold's comments, calling them "interesting." He declined further comment on the subject.

But he acknowledged his casino money has dried up in the last couple of weeks, as Goodman has surged ahead in the polls.

Still, Adamsen said he's in the race until the end.

"There are another 13 days left, and 13 days is an eternity," he said. "Anything can happen and it often does in politics."

Goodman, meanwhile, has begun to sound like an establishment candidate in recent days.

It's a tag he loathes.

"I'm not an establishment candidate," he said Wednesday. "I'm a people's candidate."

But during Tuesday night's debate on Las Vegas 1, Goodman boasted of his campaign support from the "geniuses" of the Strip who have invested billions in Las Vegas.

And yet, when pressed about whether he would support a hike in gaming taxes to fund growth, Goodman, who already has set his sights on the pocketbooks of developers, said he wouldn't rule out such a possibility.

The casino industry's willingness to back Goodman without striking any deals to protect its economic interests is unusual.

"They're rolling the dice," Don Williams, a veteran political consultant and Goodman supporter, said. "They know he's going to win, so they're going with him. They have no other place to go."

Goodman's campaign has raised $300,000 since he came within 277 votes of winning the race outright in the May 4 primary, his strategists said.

Much of his casino support is coming from Mirage Resorts chairman Steve Wynn, who has thrown his money and the weight of his political organization behind the outspoken defense attorney.

Goodman, aides said, has received $8,600 from the Bellagio, $5,000 from the Mirage, $2,500 from the Golden Nugget and the maximum $10,000 apiece from Wynn's general counsel, Bruce Levin and his wife, Pam.

But Goodman's support from gaming is more widespread.

Two Circus Circus properties, Mandalay Bay and Luxor, each have contributed $5,000. So have Bally's and the Tropicana. Other prominent casino companies, the Boyd Group, Station Casinos, Coast Resorts and the Stratosphere Corp., all have donated $10,000.

Adamsen said he received campaign support from the gaming industry, but he couldn't recall which companies gave to him. He also estimated that he has received about $200,000 in contributions, mostly from individual donors, since the primary.

But if he's received that much money, it hasn't appeared to show up in his campaign. Adamsen has yet to run television ads or mail out direct mail pieces since the primary.

Goodman, on the other hand, hasn't missed a day of television advertising in months and is planning a TV blitz in the coming days.

Heading into the home stretch, it appears Adamsen doesn't have the resources to hit Goodman where he's most vulnerable -- his past as a criminal defense lawyer who has represented a long list of high-profile organized crime figures.

At Tuesday's debate on Las Vegas 1, Goodman again demonstrated more passion and exuberance than Adamsen, who was well prepared but appeared stiff.

Goodman, for example, left little doubt he would intervene in the growing labor dispute between the Culinary Union and the Venetian, and he seemed to connect with the viewers when he suggested the mayor's job needs to be "raised to the next level."