Las Vegas mayor who offered to reopen city as ‘control group’ faces recall effort

The mayor of Las Vegas who offered to reopen the city as a “control group” during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is facing a recall effort. 

Professional poker player Doug Polk is leading the effort to recall Mayor Carolyn Goodman. Polk filed a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition with the city clerk’s office on Wednesday, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. 

Polk said he has 90 days to submit a petition with 25 percent of the voters from the 2019 election, which he said is about 6,745 people. 

On Thursday he tweeted he had received almost a hundred people request recall kits to sign the petition. 

“I have put together a full launch plan to make this happen, and I am going to be working on this full time,” he said. 

Last night (Thanks to some local news stations) we have already had almost a hundred people request recall kits to sign the petition!

If you want to help, you can find more information on how to do so at https://t.co/Q02hxnFRWp

Together Las Vegas, we can #RecallCarolynGoodman!

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) May 7, 2020

If enough valid signatures are collected by the Aug. 4 cutoff date, it would trigger mayoral recall election, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

Goodman responded to the recall effort, claiming its Polk’s choice as an American to undertake the task. 

“Regarding recall effort: This is America. That’s his choice,” she tweeted Thursday. 

Regarding recall effort: This is America. That’s his choice

— Carolyn G. Goodman (@mayoroflasvegas) May 7, 2020

Polk wrote back to Goodman’s tweet, “Thanks for the support mayor!”

Polk said he doesn’t only want to recall the mayor for wanting to “reopen Las Vegas,” but also for placing casino owners’ interests above the people of the city. 

“I don’t want to recall the mayor just because she wants to re-open Las Vegas,” he tweeted. “She also cares more about the ‘sensitive’ casino owners interests than the people of Las Vegas. Additionally, she was unable to maintain a conversation with functional sentences.”

I dont want to recall the mayor just because she wants to re-open Las Vegas.

She also cares more about the “sensitive” casino owners interests than the people of Las Vegas. Additionally, she was unable to maintain a conversation with functional sentences. https://t.co/6e6N39wyUg

— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) May 7, 2020

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper last month, Goodman pushed for the city to be able to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, noting data regarding the city’s COVID-19 cases. 

“Hasn’t it been because of social distancing that the numbers have been what they are?” Cooper asked. 

“How do you know until we have a control group, we offer to be a control group,” she said.