Cedric Crear says he is running for Las Vegas mayor

Las Vegas Councilman Cedric Crear said Thursday he is running to become the next mayor in three years, launching a fundraising campaign for one of the highest-profile elected seats in Nevada.

“As a Las Vegas native, born and raised in the Historic Westside, it would be an honor and a privilege to lead the greatest city in America,” he wrote in an email to supporters.

Crear, a former city planning commissioner and Nevada System of Higher Education regent, joined the council in 2018. He emerged victorious in a special election to serve out the remaining term of former councilman Ricki Barlow, who resigned and pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud for misusing campaign funds.

Crear, 51, won a reelection bid in 2019.

“At the end of the day, you have to get into office and you have to prove yourself, and you have to show what kind of leader you’re going to be,” Crear said by phone. “I’ve done that.”

His mayoral platform, he said, will include public safety, homelessness and workforce development.

He counts as achievements the establishment of a comprehensive blueprint to grow the disinvested Historic Westside, a job creation initiative called “Ward 5 Works” and a forthcoming $6.9 million workforce training center, among other efforts to improve quality of life in the district he represents.

Ward 5 covers a portion of downtown, Symphony Park, and west Las Vegas. With a population of roughly 103,000, nearly two-thirds of the people who live in the district are Hispanic or Black, according to city data.

While his early entry into the mayoral race comes more than three years before Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s third and final term expires in 2024, the decision is not a surprise. Crear, who said people have been asking him to run since 2018, even acknowledged in his announcement that he was simply confirming “what many of you have known for a while now.”

He said he has not yet spoken to Goodman about his decision, although he maintains a good relationship with the mayor, who he has known since he was young.

Crear also dismissed comments from a potential challenger on Thursday. Las Vegas Councilwoman Michele Fiore, who Crear last year criticized for allegedly making racially charged comments, replied on Twitter to a post that said, “Can only hope (Fiore) is in, too.”

“I will be kicking Crear’s A** in the Mayoral Race,” Fiore replied, although it is unclear if she actually intends to run. “Mayor Fiore sounds pretty dam good to me.”

Fiore could not be reached for comment Thursday. But Crear insisted that he will be more qualified than anyone else who chooses to run, and he was brief when asked to respond to Fiore’s post.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t follow that.”

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.