Goodman is the founder, president and trustee emeritus of The Meadows School. She and her husband moved to Las Vegas in 1964 and soon became active in the local Jewish federation. Eventually, she became the leader of the local Jewish federation's women's division, a position she held for several years. She received the 2009 Commitment to Education award from the United Way of Southern Nevada. On June 7, 2011, Goodman was elected mayor of Las Vegas with 60% of the vote in a runoff; she took office on July 6, 2011. She was reelected in 2015, and in April 2019 was reelected again to a third term, with 83.5% of the vote. On October 24, 2011, Goodman greeted President Barack Obama at McCarran International Airport. In regard to negative remarks Obama had made about Las Vegas two years earlier that had angered her husband, the previous mayor, she told Obama that "the slate is brand new and clean", and gave him one of her lucky mayor chips as a gift. On July 15, 2015, Goodman endorsed Ruben Kihuen for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016. Kihuen defeated incumbent U.S. Representative Cresent Hardy. Days later, she endorsed Joe Heck for the U.S. Senate in 2016. On August 3, 2016, Goodman declined to endorse Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. She identifies as an independent. During her tenure as mayor, Goodman tried to promote Las Vegas as a home for professional sports teams. The Vegas Golden Knights began playing professional hockey in the 2017-18 season and the Oakland Raiders announced their relocation to Las Vegas beginning in 2020, although neither team is within Las Vegas's city limits: both are in Paradise, Nevada, outside the mayor's jurisdiction. Goodman attempted to lure a soccer team to Las Vegas several times, including bids for a Major League Soccer expansion team, and ultimately got a second-division team, the Las Vegas Lights FC of the United Soccer League, which began playing in 2018. Goodman is no longer eligible to run for reelection due to term limits. In 2019, her final term was extended a year due to a state law that shifted all municipal elections held in off-years to even-numbered years, meaning her term will end in 2024. On April 22 and 23, 2020, in interviews with MSNBC's Katy Tur and CNN's Anderson Cooper during the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodman said she wanted to reopen Las Vegas's casinos and hotels. When pressed about procedures necessary to ensure patrons' safety, she said that wasn't her responsibility and was up to the businesses. During the interview with Cooper, Goodman questioned the impact of social distancing, saying, "We offered to be a control group..." to test what would happen if casinos reopened, but was advised against it "...because people from all parts of southern Nevada come in to work in the city." She also suggested that social distancing be subjected to a placebo test, adding, "We would love to be that placebo..." When Cooper asked if she would be willing to go to one of the casinos if they were soon opened up, she replied: “First of all, I have a family. I don't gamble." U.S. Representative Dina Titus, from Nevada’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the Las Vegas Strip, disagreed with Goodman, saying it was necessary to heed scientists' advice to shelter at home whenever possible to enable the successful recovery of Las Vegas's businesses. Titus also said, "The mayor does not represent the Las Vegas Strip, literally or figuratively." That evening, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak said, "I will not allow the citizens of Nevada, our Nevadans, to be used as a control group, as a placebo, whatever she wants to call it", and that he would not "allow our workers to be put in position that they have to decide between their job and their paycheck and their life. That's not a fair position to put them in."
