"It's a challenging campaign trail, running as an alternatively unique candidate," says Melody "Mimi Miyagi" Damayo. What she means is that it's not easy to get people to take you seriously in your run for governor when you're the veteran of films with titles like Anal Asians and Busty Bangkok Bangers. Yes, the Philippines-born Damayo is a former adult-film actress, and she's not shy about it. She's also dead serious about her run for governor, as a Republican, and has passionate opinions about what she believes are the key issues facing Nevada.
"I am a mother of a first-grader—she's going on second grade—so a lot of my issues are based on what I see for her future, what I want her to be raised in," Damayo says, explaining her emphasis on strengthening education, reducing gang violence and improving police response time for crime victims. She also supports the industry that brought her success, campaigning for an end to taxes on brothels (as a Republican she's in favor of lower taxes in general), allowing strip clubs to be built inside hotel-casinos and abolishing the requirement that exotic dancers possess business licenses to work in Las Vegas. "A lot of college students or people that want to keep their dancing life private, it's bringing it out into the open," she says, "because now you can basically research a person's name on a database, and it pops up that they are a dancer."
If it seems odd for a porn star who supports the rights of exotic dancers and prostitutes to run as a Republican, Damayo insists that she supports the party, citing its history going back to Abraham Lincoln and the freeing of the slaves, as well as the Republican regard for individual rights. "I've been embraced greatly by the Clark County Republican Party," she says. "She is a legally viable candidate," says Clark County Republican Party chairman John Hambrick. "I think she's a very shrewd and competent businesswoman." Before her candidacy, Damayo volunteered heavily in the 2004 campaign; she's also treasurer of the local Asian Republican Party. "I'm not the typical ideological Republican," she adds.
She's also not the only gubernatorial candidate with a background in the adult industry. Leola McConnell, who's running as a Democrat, is better known to some as "Mistress Lee," a dominatrix (or "domina," as she prefers to be called) who gained some notoriety when she claimed to have spent time with prominent Republican William Bennett. She also recently issued a press release alleging that she personally witnessed George W. Bush perform a "homosexual act" in 1984.
McConnell, who bills herself as a "liberal Democrat," refused to be interviewed for any story featuring Melody Damayo. "I don't seek attention of that kind or even the most remote connection to that in the slightest," she said in an e-mail. McConnell also pulled out of a recent NPR appearance because Damayo was set to appear on the same program. Already speaking like a politician, Damayo responds, "I couldn't speculate on my opposing candidates." But she can't resist a slight parting shot. "If I pose a threat to her, then I feel sorry," she says. "I'm not going to apologize for my sincere candidacy." Anyone who doubts Damayo's sincerity can be assured she's in it for the long haul. If she isn't able to take the governor's mansion, Damayo plans to run for mayor of Las Vegas in 2007.