Get ready for great political theater

Adivisive local government decision has delivered the most compelling mayoral race in a generation.

Grab some popcorn and a good seat for Carolyn Goodman vs. Stavros Anthony. The campaign for Las Vegas mayor will be more fun to watch than its defining issue: soccer.

Goodman is seeking a second term as mayor, which, piled on top of husband Oscar’s three terms in office, would extend her family’s control of the city’s top elected position to 20 years. Dynasty doesn’t begin to describe the Goodman run at City Hall.

But Carolyn Goodman is exceptionally vulnerable — indeed, she’s in serious trouble — because of her zealous insistence on subsidizing a sports venue at downtown’s Symphony Park. In ignoring widespread, bipartisan voter opposition to a taxpayer-supported, $200 million, 24,000-seat soccer stadium, Goodman delivered a ready-made campaign to anyone willing to challenge her.

On Tuesday, second-term Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Anthony stepped up because no one else would — and because the city, under Goodman’s watch, is doing everything possible to get the stadium built and deny residents the ability to block it.

Earlier this month, the clerk’s office dialed up the pressure on a petition to put the stadium plan on June’s general election ballot. One week after telling petitioners they needed 2,306 signatures to get the issue before voters, Acting City Clerk LuAnn Holmes nearly quadrupled the requirement — without giving an extension. The petitioners, led by Councilman Bob Beers, Anthony, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian and community activists, might yet get the question to the ballot — they turned in signatures Friday night. But if they don’t, the mayor’s race becomes a referendum on the plan to bring an expansion Major League Soccer franchise to downtown.

“The platform is going to be the stadium, parks and allowing people to vote (on the stadium),” Anthony told the Review-Journal’s James DeHaven. “That, and spending more time focused on neighborhoods.

“I think people are so against the stadium that they’ll vote for me. … Obviously people know the Goodman name. … But I think I have the votes.”

Anthony can run on more than his opposition to the stadium subsidies, which include free land and infrastructure, construction funds and revenue from a parking garage the city will build at public expense. He also opposed the financing terms of the new City Hall, which will drill the general fund with higher rent payments in the years ahead.

Goodman will have a fundraising advantage — she has amassed a sizable war chest and can tap her personal wealth as needed. But Anthony has powerful new allies who appear ready to support him: downtown gaming companies and the Culinary union, who believe an entertainment district around the stadium would cost their hotels a great deal of business. And Anthony has the advantage of representing Ward 4, which includes Sun City Summerlin. The residents of that age-restricted community are engaged, vote in huge numbers and are pretty hostile to stadium subsidies.

The mayor now faces a huge challenge in crafting a re-election message. If she runs on a defense of her votes for stadium subsidies — her arrogant taunting of stadium opponents has been quite a spectacle — she’ll be destroyed. She’ll have to create a feel-good campaign around the city’s steady economic recovery and try to distract voters with messages about education, even though city government has nothing to do with schools.

I also expect Goodman to get nasty. And I’d be shocked if her campaign team hasn’t already started work on mailers and TV spots that address Anthony’s biggest baggage: In 2007, when he was both a Las Vegas police captain and an elected member of the Board of Regents, Anthony admitted using his badge to obtain airline seat upgrades on flights related to Metro business — in violation of department policy. Those spots will sting.

However, assuming Anthony raises enough money to put ads on TV, he can counter with a haymaker: Video footage of Goodman blowing up at a fall town hall on the stadium plan at Rogich Middle School, as only Goodman can, railing at regular folks who want their tax money spent on government services instead of professional sports. “What did you do to build this community? What have you put into this community to make it a better place? … You have all been privy to documents you had no right to be privy to!”

Translation: I know what’s best for you!

The valley’s off-year municipal elections generally do not inspire the electorate. City of Las Vegas residents are mad as heck about the soccer stadium. If that anger lasts at least until April’s primary, we’ll have an election worth watching.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s senior editorial writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenn_CookNV.