Goodman gives a thumbs up

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN
Associated Press Writer

A lawyer who defended mob figures such as Meyer Lansky had a big lead in Las Vegas' mayoral election Tuesday night, although he was falling just short of the majority he needed to avoid a runoff.

Meanwhile. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb rode his city's strong economy to a third term.

Three Midwestern cities where incumbents are not running also held mayoral races.

In Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman pumped his fist and led cheers from his supporters as returns showed him leading a nine-person field with just under 50 percent of the vote -- the mark he needed to cross to win the mayor's job outright.

If Goodman does not top 50 percent, he would face the second-place finisher on June 8.

"This city's going to really hum, hopefully sooner than later," Goodman said. "This is the American dream."

Goodman, 59, for years was called the mouthpiece for the mob because of his vigorous defense of people like Lansky and Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, the gangster who legend has it put a rival's head in a vise and squeezed his eyeballs out. Goodman played himself in Martin Scorsese's "Casino."

Goodman campaigned as a populist and defender of the defenseless who would break up the city's good-old-boy network.

One rival, City Councilman Arnie Adamsen, said electing Goodman would set the city's reputation back 50 years. But Adamsen and developer Mark Fine, another leading candidate, also spent much of their time attacking each other, to Goodman's benefit.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Goodman had 23,855 votes, or 49 percent. Adamsen had 14,261 votes, or 29 percent, while Fine had 7,833 votes, or 16 percent.

In Denver, Webb, a Democrat, picked up 81 percent of the vote and became the city's first mayor to win without a runoff since 1979. His three opponents had struggled to raise money, and two-thirds of voters polled three weeks ago could not name one of them.

Webb, president-elect of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he hoped to use his third term to continue increasing public safety, protecting parks and open space and creating economic opportunities.

After the most expensive mayoral race ever in Lincoln, Nebraska, former state Sen. Don Wesely, a Democrat, defeated Republican City Councilwoman Cindy Johnson 56 percent to 44 percent. Wesely succeeds Republican Mike Johanns, who was elected governor last November.

Wesely and Ms. Johnson spent a combined $420,000 on the campaign.

Candidates made crime-fighting a major issue in Indianapolis, which has seen record-breaking numbers of homicides the last two years.

Democrats are trying to take over the mayor's post for the first time in 30 years, and on Tuesday they nominated Bart Peterson, a developer who was former Gov. Evan Bayh's chief of staff. Indiana Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy was selected as the GOP nominee to succeed Stephen Goldsmith.

Columbus, Ohio, will have its first female mayor or first black mayor after the November election. Republican Dorothy Teater and Democrat Michael Coleman, who is black, were the top two finishers in a three-way nonpartisan primary on Tuesday.

Wednesday, May 5, 1999

• Gore says Internet limits 'honor the lives' of school victims
• Poll: New Hampshire voters support Bush over Gore
• Federal government prepares financial aid for tornado victims
• Willey: I told Steele "many many times" about Clinton incident
• Kerrey: Senate report on Clinton-China ties no 'love letter'
• Mob lawyer tops Vegas mayor's race
• Senators grill nuclear lab chiefs on security
• Consumer groups deride new bare-bones insurance plans
• Agencies don't track actual costs of Y2K, report says
• 'Kinetic' Kasich seeks presidency
• Holbrooke U.N. nomination clears another hurdle
• Kosovo money fight resurrects Central America aid bill
• Senate bill would increase supervision of class-action suits
• Sen. Specter targets baseball exemption

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