Las Vegas Mayor: 'If I'm Gov, I'll Cavort With Showgirls And I'll Keep Drinking My Gin'

Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas and a former defense attorney for the mob, is known for saying outrageous things. In a visit to an elementary school in 2005, for example, he told a group of fourth-graders that he would take a showgirl and a bottle of Sapphire Bombay Gin if he was stranded on a desert island.

He's also weighing a run for governor -- and is doing well in the polls.

"I envision making my announcement to run for governor with showgirls on my arm. If [the people] don't like it, they can vote for someone else. And if I'm governor, I'll cavort with showgirls and I'll keep drinking my gin and betting on anything that moves," Goodman told the Philadelphia Inquirer, his hometown paper. "I won't change!"

(Goodman, we should note, has been a celebrity spokesman for Bombay Gin.)

But, he said, "I need the governor's race like I need a hole in the head. ... But my nature is to go where others fear to tread."

Goodman, who last month left the Democratic party to become an independent, might seem like a long shot. But in recent polls for both governor and Harry Reid's Senate seat, Goodman is doing better than most.

In a January poll, Goodman was matched up against Rory Reid (D), Harry's son, and current Gov. Jim Gibbons (R). Goodman lead with 41% to Reid's 24% and Gibbons' 21%. In another match-up, this time against Reid and former judge Brian Sandoval (R), Goodman held 31%, compared to Sandoval's 35% and Reid's 20%.

In the race for the elder Reid's Senate seat, Goodman right now looks like the Democrats' best hope. In a January poll, Goodman -- in hypothetical one-on-one match-ups with likely Republican contenders -- was the only Democrat who came out with a tie. Harry Reid, Rep. Shelly Berkley and Secretary of State Ross Miller all trailed their hypothetical GOP opponents.