Atop a Montgomery County–centered past, Oscar and Carolyn Goodman led Las Vegas politics for nearly a quarter century. Tricia Kean’s ABC13 KNTV interview explained.

Oscar, of Philadelphia, and Carolyn, a New Yorker, met in college.

“We went to a brother-sister college situation,” Oscar explained. “…down the road from one another. “I went to Haverford College … and Carolyn went to Bryn Mawr College.”

He continued, saying that Carolyn’s roommate pointed him out to her at an shared event and said, “There’s the guy you’re going to marry.”

They did, in 1962, after Carolyn — not Oscar — proposed.

In 1964, they moved to Las Vegas, where he launched a career a legal career and she worked in promotions.

In 1999, he was elected mayor and served until 2011, when term limits prevented another run. But his successor was Carolyn, who served 2011–2023. She, too, was ineligible for more, owing to the same term limits.

Reflecting on their post-collegiate lives together, Oscar said, “[Las Vegas] has been so good to us.

“We arrived here with $87 in our pocket. We didn’t have a dime more than that. And we were able to get an apartment and go working right away and never had a bad day.”

More on Oscar and Carolyn Goodman is at ABC13 KNTV.

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A Women’s History Month interview from 2022 with Carolyn Goodman.