Gambling Today: Poker Pro vs Vegas Mayor
A recall campaign against Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has been launched by a professional poker player after she called on the city to reopen, despite social distancing recommendations and the orders of Governor Steve Sisolak.
Professional poker player Doug Polk last week submitted filings with the local election authority to circulate a recall petition against Goodman. The move by Polk occurred after he witnessed Goodman’s April 22 interview on CNN when she offered the city up as a "control group" to see if quickly reopening businesses would result in new coronavirus infections.
After becoming aware of the relative simplicity of Nevada’s recall election law, Polk sent a letter of intent to the city of Las Vegas, the first step in the recall process. For a recall effort to move forward in Nevada, petitioners must obtain signatures from 25% of registered voters who cast ballots in the election in question, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Last spring, 26,979 people, a mere 8.5% of registered voters, voted in the mayoral primary election. That means that at least 6,745 people will need to sign Polk’s petition in order to commence a recall election. The signed petition must be submitted to that office within 90 days of the day that the notice of intent was filed. In Polk’s case, the deadline will be August 4.
Despite being criticized by some across various media platforms, she has stood by her position on reopening the economy.
“I wouldn't be in this job and in this community if I didn't have broad shoulders. No matter what it is and how untruthful some of the comments have been, it's OK. I know we're doing the right thing in Las Vegas,” Goodman said.
There is no debate that Goodman, who won her third and final term as mayor last year with 83.5% of the vote, did a poor job of representing exactly what Las Vegas needs in her TV interview. The mayor was attempting to express how the city’s residents can only survive economically from implementing plans to re-open the state, which did begin on May 9 (after her TV appearance). Retail outlets, salons and restaurants that offer dine-in services at 50 percent capacity have since reopened, but casinos, bars and entertainment venues are not allowed to open their doors unti “Phase 3” of the plan.
"Please, governor," she said, "we need to be able to live our lives, support our families and, yes, keep Nevada strong, but together," said Goodman prior to Phase 1 of Governor Siolak’s reopening plan announced last week.
Proclaiming people need businesses to reopen in order to simply feed their family is not selfish, despite claims from people who want the world to stay shut down until there is a vaccine. It would be an equal argument if each of us had the same amount of cash and comforting safety nets.
Upon a quick review of Polk’s own Twitter page, a display of “Circulator of the Petition to #RecallCarolynGoodman” is located directly on top of a link to a business he owns. Polk has accused Goodman of being in the pockets of the casino owners, but shouldn’t it be noted that he has earned at least $3.7 million of wealth from winnings that result from gambling? With the indefinite shutdown of “live poker” due to social distancing guidelines, it stands to reason that Polk could stand to monetarily gain from this sudden strong media response combined with a possible move back to a legalization of online poker nationwide.
A deeper dive reveals that the organization he currently owns teaches people how to play poker. In a town where one out of every three people depends on the hospitality and gaming industry, Vegas is better served by using time and resources to find solutions on how to save the state as opposed to launching a website with rhetoric that leads by using the word “Casino Shill.”
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