Christy just wanted to be somebody
Retailer-turned-pol dies at 67
I first met Christy Mihos in 1990 when he was running for the state Senate. My cousin arranged a meeting at Amrhein’s in South Boston.
“Let me get this straight,” I said to Mihos. “You’re the Christy from Christy’s Markets?”
He smiled and nodded.
“You have that kind of money and you’re running for the state Senate?” I said. “Are you out of your mind?”
As it turned out, Mihos was, and not just because in 1990, he was trying to win election to a body where nearly 20 percent of the members had been indicted over the previous few years.
Poor Christy Mihos, dead this week in Martin County, Fla., at the age of 67. He always dreamed of being a player. He was a legend in his own mind. He loved being on the local TV news, and on the radio talk shows.
Christy was from Brockton, one of the few rich kids at Brockton High. He used to brag about being elected president of the Class of ’67. As it turned out, it was the last election he ever won.
In 1990, he had everything going for him. In the GOP primary for an open South Shore senate seat, he was facing off against a 29-year-old Bob Hedlund, now the mayor of Weymouth, who owned a garage in Quincy. Christy was endorsed by the Herald and the Globe, as well as former governors Ed King and Frank Sargent.
On election night, Christy declared victory. He was ahead by one vote, until they counted 19 jammed ballots in Hingham. He woke up the next morning trailing by 3, and when the recount was over, he’d lost by 39.
Here’s a story from Brockton High that pretty much symbolizes Christy’s life. Some of his classmates had started a band, the Ravens, but they didn’t have money to buy instruments. So they went to the richest kid in the school, Christy, and invited him to join the band, on one condition.
He had to buy the instruments. Being Christy, he was grateful for the opportunity, so he wrote the cool kids a check for the instruments. The Ravens were in business. Two weeks later, they kicked Christy out.
Thirty-five years later, the state Republican party did pretty much the same thing to him. He was always good for a check. In return the GOP governors put him on the boards of UMass and Mass Turnpike. On the Pike board, he turned out to be a firebrand, fighting for the taxpayers on the Big Dig fiasco.
Gov. Mitt Romney refused to reappoint him to the Pike board, even though Christy had been one of his earliest supporters. Christy vowed revenge.
Most people would have been happy to enjoy the good life of a multimillionaire but Christy wanted to Be Somebody. He blew $7 million running as an independent for governor in 2006 to get 7 percent of the vote, 154,628 votes.
In 2013, when his wife accused him of blowing $10 million on porn stars and hookers, I called him to come on my radio show. When the phone didn’t ring, I knew it was Christy. Now he’s gone, 50 years after his last electoral victory, at Brockton High School. The Ravens could not be reached for comment.
Order Howie’s new book, “Kennedy Babylon,” at howiecarrshow.com.