For the first time in 25 years, Las Vegas's mayor will have a new last name
Heading inland, Las Vegas is also choosing a new mayor this year. Like San Francisco, the Las Vegas mayoral election is happening at the same time as a presidential race for the first time, following 2019 legislation that moved the elections from odd- to even-numbered years. Whoever wins, it will be the first time in 25 years that the office hasn't been held by a member of the Goodman family. Oscar and Carolyn Goodman, a husband-and-wife pair of Democrats-turned-independents, have traded the mayor's office since 1999.
The race is officially nonpartisan, though the candidates have opposing partisan backgrounds: Victoria Seaman, a city councilmember, previously served as a Republican in the state House, while former Democratic U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, is betting on the city's heavily-Democratic voters to carry her to victory. Berkley won more votes in the June primary, in which a third major candidate drew nearly 20% of the votes, but we haven't seen any public polling of the race since then. Berkley has positioned herself as a continuation of the Goodman regime, while Seaman has been more critical: Her campaign website cites a need to move on from the "failed policies of the past" without mentioning the Goodmans by name.
One of the biggest issues in the race has been how to deal with a lawsuit involving a defunct golf course in one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods. A developer bought the golf course in 2015 intending to turn it into a housing development, but was blocked from doing so by the city. The developer sued, and the case has since been embroiled in a years-long legal battle that could end up costing city taxpayers over half a billion dollars. Both candidates say they want to settle the lawsuit, but disagree on how to do so.