Candidates for Las Vegas mayor start running TV ads

The Las Vegas mayor's race has made it to the boob tube, with three candidates airing advertisements while a fourth, for now, sticks to online and social media outlets.

Carolyn Goodman, wife of current Mayor Oscar Goodman, aimed for a big splash Sunday night during the broadcast of the Academy Awards with her first ad of the race.

After Mayor Goodman recycled an "Oscar" joke playing on his name, Carolyn talked about pursuing job creation and economic diversity before ending with a strange promise: "I will be taking action to improve our schools to take Las Vegas to the next level."

She has an education background as founder of the Meadows School, but the mayor and City Council have no direct role in public education policy, budgeting or curriculum.

Campaign manager Bradley Mayer said Goodman wanted to emphasize the link between a good education system and a dynamic economy.

"Just because the mayor doesn't have 'policy' control, an established fact that we have pointed out, doesn't mean the mayor should roll over and stay quiet on the subject," Mayer said.

"The idea is that when the mayor talks, people listen. As the face and voice of really all of Las Vegas, the mayor can take action to lead the discussion on a variety of subject matters, including education."

In an 18-candidate field with several strong contenders, the would-be mayors are trying to differentiate themselves from one another and make sure voters know who they are, said David Damore, a political scientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

It's going to be an expensive undertaking and will require more aggression than the "soft" spots aired so far, he said.

Venture capitalist Victor Chaltiel started running his first ad Feb. 21, and it also appeared during the Academy Awards.

It's simple: People say, "Victor for Las Vegas," and then Chaltiel pronounces that "it's time to get back to work and back to business."

Chaltiel said he started the race with almost no name recognition, but "I think in the next few weeks it will be very different."

Part of the effort is to get people used to his French accent.

"This first ad was just for name recognition," he said. "Future ads will be much more specific."

Larry Brown's first ad, called "Vegas Pride," is scheduled to start airing today and is already posted on his campaign website.

In it, he talks about people wanting to revive Las Vegas and says his experience on the Clark County Commission and as a former Las Vegas councilman will help that push.

"We wanted to come out of the blocks with a spot that shows Larry's sincerity and affability," campaign manager Jim Ferrence said. "It also foreshadows the fiscal theme that will be the linchpin of our messaging."

A second spot will start Wednesday that is more explicitly about trimming government spending, and a third that is being planned will do the same.

"The third spot is kind of a variation on the theme," Ferrence said. "Everyone will claim to have a record on fiscal matters, but only one really does -- that kind of thing."

The campaign plans to spend at least $50,000 a week through election day, he said, for a minimum outlay of $250,000.

As of Friday, Chaltiel had spent the most money: a little more than $100,000 since Feb. 21, according to a record of campaign television expenditures.

Goodman spent $54,830 to start airing her ads this week, followed by Brown at $53,000.

Chris Giunchigliani, a Clark County commissioner, is sticking to the Internet for now and has two videos out.

The first spot pokes fun at her long, intimidating last name, with adults and youngsters learning how to pronounce it correctly.

Her second video is more traditional, showing her talking about the goals of revitalizing neighborhoods and attracting businesses.

There is a separate site, www.chrisglive.com, that is maintained by Justin McAffee and Tommi Sims, two College of Southern Nevada students who are making a documentary in support of the Giunchigliani campaign.

"It just kind of fell into our laps," said Gary Gray, Giunchigliani's husband and campaign manager. "They pitched it, I said, 'Sure.' "

The campaign is sticking with online videos for now, he said. A third is in the works, and "we've got a rather long list" of shorts to make.

Gray wasn't sure whether the campaign would cross over to paid broadcast advertising.

"That decision hasn't been made," he said. "We have three- and four-time-a-week discussions on what's going on."

Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross doesn't have any television spots yet.

"I think we're going to continue to take a wait-and-see approach on TV," said Steve Redlinger, his campaign manager.

He said it's not economical to send a message to a countywide audience when in reality only about 40,000 voters inside the city are going to participate in the election.

"It's fairly easy for us to dissect who those 40,000 voters are and reach out to them through the mail," Redlinger said.

On Monday, Ross crossed the line to the aggressive approach that Damore suggested will be needed to win the race.

He reached out to his Twitter followers with a direct attack on the Goodmans.

"Is Carolyn good with a mop?" he tweeted. "With 50,000 Las Vegans out of a job ... Oscar is leaving a big mess to clean up."

The charge, said Redlinger, is that the city has no comprehensive jobs plan, and Ross has been repeating a mantra everywhere he goes that he will "roll up my sleeves" and fight unemployment.

Mayor Goodman, though, has been given credit for several job-creating projects, including the Mob Museum, the new City Hall project, the Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the partnership with the Cleveland Clinic, as well as enticing Zappos to move its headquarters from Henderson to Las Vegas.

Ross supported those endeavors, which Redlinger called "a start."

Damore said it makes sense for Ross, whose background is in the construction trade unions, to take this approach early.

"I think he's in the toughest spot," he said of Ross' candidacy. "You see Larry Brown as being the second choice, and (Ross) is known as the union guy."

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.