Debating debates: Issue could make Las Vegas mayor’s race interesting

While much of the media and public have been preoccupied, there's a race for Las Vegas mayor featuring a pair of energetic candidates.

But how competitive is it?

On Wednesday, Chris Giunchigliani's camp released a poll showing her closing fast on Carolyn Goodman, trailing just 45 percent to 43 percent in a Benson Strategy Group survey.

That's well within anyone's margin of error.

Goodman, meanwhile, already had her hands on a 1,248-sample Magellan Polling & Research survey that shows her with a comfortable lead,
53 percent to 31 percent.

The Goodman camp didn't intend to release the poll but parted with it after Giunchigliani announced her results.

In April, Goodman easily prevailed in a crowded primary, winning 37 percent of the vote. Giunchigliani collected 17.35 percent, just 15 votes more than candidate Larry Brown.

Let's say the methodologies of both polls are solid.

Giunchigliani is obviously trying to show that her relentless campaigning across broad demographic lines is paying off.

Goodman, meanwhile, is showing results that remind voters she remains comfortable, confident and in control.

There's no downside for Giunchigliani, who entered the runoff phase as a substantial underdog and of late has seen her attempts to drag Goodman into debates rebuffed by the front-runner.

The danger for Goodman, no matter how slight, is real: Is she so confident in her campaign and polling that she can afford to turn off some voters who will perceive her refusal to debate as a sign of weakness?

Some of that frustration is already showing itself in vote-rich Sun City, where at least a few residents are wondering aloud about Goodman's unwillingness to debate.

Others might continue to ignore it, but something tells me the mayor's race is about to get interesting.

AFANATICS: Illusionists Penn and Teller helped make more than $461,000 appear at the April 17 Aid for AIDS of Nevada fundraising walk, the group announced this week.

As grand marshals, the entertainers led a parade devoted to generating dollars to assist those with HIV-AIDS in the community. Their team alone attracted more than 1,200 walkers of the 8,500 who participated in the event.

CASINO CAPITAL: Turns out it's not who you thought it was. Once again we're reminded that Las Vegas is in the rear-view mirror of Macau's rocket-fueled casino limousine.

In an article for the Guardian newspaper this week, reporter Tania Branigan traced Macau's rise from pirate's paradise to, well, a corporate casino pirate's paradise.

She writes, "They used to call it Asia's Monte Carlo, or the Las Vegas of the East. But this small territory -- barely known to many in the west -- is the new giant of the casino industry. For centuries, Macau was a Portuguese colony; since 1999 it has belonged to China as a special administrative region. Thanks to the relative freedoms it enjoys under this 'one country, two systems' formula, it has leapfrogged its rivals, embracing the glitz and kitsch of gambling; and, above all, the cash."

Macau casinos now boast of being four times more profitable than Las Vegas.

Translation: Barring major scandals or a change of heart by a Chinese government I'd always believed to be pretty heartless to start with, Macau is set to expand its share of the market and maintain its status as the world's casino superpower.

Yeah, well, at least we still have the Liberace Mus ... uh, check that, I guess the Liberace Museum is closed.

ON THE BOULEVARD: As Las Vegas Mayor and former mob defense lawyer Oscar Goodman's one-man show nears the end of its 12-year run, the folks at The Martini (1205 S. Fort Apache) are hosting a special Martinis With the Mayor event on May 25. That night, the menu will feature "Lefty's Mac N Cheese Balls," "Claiborne Calamari," "Civella Chicken Wings," and "Fat Herbie's Flautas."

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.