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Christy P. Mihos (born June 13, 1949 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was an Independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and ran again as a Republican in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election. He did not receive enough votes at the Republican Caucus to qualify for the primary ballot. Mihos previously served as a member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority from 1999 to 2004.
Background
Christy Mihos, best known for his outspoken reform at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, owns the Christy's Markets convenience store chain on Cape Cod. A previous store was opened by his grandfather, Greek immigrant Christy Mihos, was started in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1934, several businesses removed. Peter Mihos, Christy's father, and James Mihos, an uncle, ran the store along with the rest of their families until 1984. The chain once included 144 stores found throughout eastern Massachusetts, but, in May 1998, he and his brother sold 132 of them to 7-Eleven. However, Mihos retained 12 Christy's on Cape Cod along with some real estate holdings.
Mihos graduated from Brockton High School and did his undergraduate studies at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. In 1990, he ran for the Massachusetts Senate as a Republican. Mihos lost the primary election by only three votes to Robert Hedlund, who later won the general election.[1]
Tenure in the Turnpike Authority
In 1999, he was appointed to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority by Governor Paul Cellucci, where he served as Vice Chairman. During his tenure on the Authority, Mihos frequently clashed with Chairman Matt Amorello over a number of issues regarding the Big Dig's budget and excessive spending. In 2001, after voting to postpone a toll hike and seeking to fire Bechtel, the general contractor of the Big Dig,Mihos was fired by Acting Governor Jane Swift, along with Director Jordan Levy. Mihos sued in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, claiming that the Governor did not have the authority to fire him. Mihos won his case and was reinstated to the Authority, along with Levy.[2] Mihos later sued Governor Swift for violating his First Amendment right to free speech, and settled that case in U.S. District Court for $197,000.
In 2004, when Mihos' five-year term on the Authority expired, Governor Mitt Romney replaced him with Daniel A. Grabauskas, the 2002 Republican nominee for State Treasurer. During his term on the Authority, Mihos also served as a trustee of the University of Massachusetts.
2006 Campaign for Governor
Main article: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006
In late 2005, Mihos announced that he was thinking of running for Governor in 2006.. After Romney announced that he would not seek re-election, Christy decided to pursue his candidacy further. Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey had won the support of Romney and the majority of the state Republican leadership for the nomination, so Mihos decided on the Independent route, announcing his candidacy for Governor of Massachusetts via televised interview on March 2, 2006.[1] [1] The next day, he held a rally at the Massachusetts State House to officially announce his candidacy.
A centerpiece for Mihos's platform in his run for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 was what he called "Proposition 1," a plan to dedicate 40% of the state's budget to aid for the cities, end annual re-assessment of property taxes (similar to California Proposition 13), and eliminate fees for public education. This is not affiliated with the Proposition 1 on the ballot during the election, which, if it had passed, would have allowed convenience and grocery stores to obtain licenses to sell alcohol. Although he believes in tradition marriage between a man and a woman, he believes the personal lives of Massachusetts residents should be left private, and a vote on same-sex marriage is an issue for the voting public, not one man. In addition, he had pledged to enact campaign finance reform laws.
On June 8, 2006, Mihos announced that he had selected John J. Sullivan, a Winchester, Massachusetts town moderator and lifelong Democrat, to be his running mate.[3]
Mihos generated controversy in September 2006 by airing an animated political commercial showing a Big Dig engineer and politicians with, literally, their heads up their behinds. Further speculation and controversies followed suit with articles published in the Boston Globe regarding Mihos' involvement with public university professor Lou DiNatale's polling data. The Boston Globe article draws attention to the conflict regarding DiNatale's involvement in Mihos political campaign, as well as his poll analysis despite the fact that DiNatale was never employed by Mihos.
Mihos came under heavy media fire in 2006 when the Boston Globe reported that he was using a public university professor, Lou DiNatale, to conduct polling data for him. The state education system prohibited their educators from being involved in political campaigns. The Boston Globe wrote that DiNatale had "an interesting relationship with Christy P. Mihos, now an independent candidate for governor." http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/artlicles/2006/03/07/umass pollster worked on side/
2010 Campaign for Governor
Main article: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2010
On July 1, 2008, Mihos announced his intention to launch a 2010 gubernatorial bid.[4] Mihos was being advised by Dick Morris, a former advisor and strategist for former US President Bill Clinton.[5] On April 17, 2010, balloting at the Massachusetts Republican State Convention resulted in Charles D. Baker beating Mihos by a margin of 89 per cent to 11 per cent; the less-than-15 per cent showing denied Mihos a spot on the GOP ballot in a possible primary. Mihos told reporters he did not plan to keep running for office. [6]
Activism
Mihos was at one time a board member of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, which seeks to raise awareness and prevent the construction of Cape Wind, a wind power project in Nantucket Sound (Source: public records - Massachusetts Division of Corporations).
Notes and references
^ Mihos took on a governor and won
^ http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/11/15/what_went_wrong_at_the_big_dig/
^ http://www.christy2010.com/pages/press_releases_details.cfm?releaseid=14
^ bid.http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view/2008_07_01_Christy_Mihos_unveils_2010_bid_for_Mass__governor/
^ http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1176439&format=text
^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/04/18/after_spot_on_ballot_is_denied_mihos_says_he_wont_run_again/ After Spot On Ballot is Denied Mihos Says He Won't Run Again
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