Christy Mihos

In 1990, Mihos ran for the Massachusetts Senate as a Republican. He was the initial the frontrunner for the party's nomination, as he had more name recognition and financial means than his opponents and had lived in three of the towns in the district (Cohasset, Weymouth and Scituate). Although Mihos was seen as the most electable Republican in a district that included heavily Democratic towns such as Weymouth and Marshfield, his support for environmental protection and abortion rights, willingness to raise taxes, and contributions to prominent Democrats such as William M. Bulger and William B. Golden caused some Republicans to view him as too liberal.[2] Mihos lost the primary election by three votes to conservative activist Robert Hedlund, who later won the general election.[5]

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 claiming that the governor did not have the authority to fire them, and it was eventually brought before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Mihos won his case, and both were reinstated to the Authority.[6] 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's 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.

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, Mihos 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 to run as an Independent, announcing his candidacy for governor via televised interview on March 2, 2006.[7] The next day, he held a rally at the Massachusetts State House to officially announce his candidacy.[8] An article published on March 21 in The Boston Globe drew attention to Mihos's interactions with public university professor Lou DiNatale. DiNatale had involvement in Mihos political campaign, including poll analysis, despite the fact that DiNatale was never employed by Mihos, and the state education system prohibited its educators from being involved in political campaigns. The Globe wrote that DiNatale had "an unusual relationship with Christy P. Mihos, now an independent candidate for governor."[9]

On June 8, Mihos announced that he had chosen John J. Sullivan, a Winchester, Massachusetts town moderator and lifelong Democrat, to be his running mate.[10] In September, Mihos generated controversy by airing an animated political commercial,[11] which showed a Big Dig engineer and politicians with their heads literally up their behinds.[12]

A centerpiece for Mihos's platform in his run for governor was what he called "Proposition 1," a plan to dedicate 40% of the state's budget to aid for the cities, end annual reassessment of property taxes (similar to California's Proposition 13), and eliminate fees for public education. He declared that he believes in traditional marriage between a man and a woman, but 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. In the November 7 general election, Mihos only garnered approximately 7% of the vote, with Healy at 35% and Democratic candidate Deval Patrick at nearly 56%.[13]

On July 1, 2008, Mihos announced his intention to launch a 2010 gubernatorial bid.[14] Mihos was advised by Dick Morris, a former adviser and strategist for former US President Bill Clinton.[15] On April 17, 2010, balloting at the Massachusetts Republican State Convention resulted in Charlie Baker beating Mihos by a margin of 89% to 11%; since Mihos received less than 15%, he was denied a spot on the GOP ballot in a possible primary. Mihos told reporters that he did not plan to run for office again.[16]