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The Las Vegas mayoral race has been whittled down to just two contestants, following the first round of elections on Tuesday. In June, Carolyn Goodman, who won 37% of the vote, will take on Chris Giunchigliani, who captured 17%, to become the next Las Vegas mayor. We spoke with Steve Miller, columnist for AmericanMafia.com and former Las Vegas City councilman, about the upcoming mayoral elections.
According to Miller, the mayoral election “could turn into a contest based on class warfare.” Both Goodman and Giunchigliani have experience within Las Vegas schools. However, while Goodman “was the administrator of the for-profit Meadows School that caters to the richest kids in town and charges $13,000 per year tuition... Giunchigliani taught average kids in our public school system”.
It’s clear that the two opponents also differ when it comes to past political experience. Miller observes that Goodman is using her lack of experience as a politician as an advantage, something which the journalist describes as “a desirable quality in a country that has become sick and tired of politician's shenanigans”. However, Giunchigliani hasn’t shied away from drawing attention to Goodman’s lack of political experience. Speaking just before the first round of the elections, Giunchigliani told AOL:
"I think she's (Goodman) a very bright lady, but I just don't think she's going to have the experience that's necessary to get this job done”.
Giunchigliani came in second in the first round of elections, after winning just 15 more votes than fellow mayoral candidate, Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown. As Miller points out, Brown has recently endorsed Giunchigliani, which “could...turn the race.” This isn’t the only advantage Giunchigliani has over Goodman, with Miller proposing:
“there's a strong distaste for dynasty building in Las Vegas. If Carolyn is elected, the Goodman's could hold on to the Mayoralty for up to 24 years based on 12 year term limits, and that's troubling to some.”
While Goodman has captured the majority of the vote for now, Giunchigliani remains confident in her chances of becoming the next mayor. When speaking about the upcoming election in June, Miller admitted it’s simply “too close to call” at the moment. Many in Las Vegas expected Goodman to win more than 50% of the vote, thus ending the race and becoming the next mayor. However, given that both Brown and Giunchigliani captured 17% of the vote each, there’s a good chance that Goodman won’t take her husband’s seat in the Las Vegas mayoral office in June.
CasinoOnline.co.uk would like to thank Steve Miller for participating in our interview.
