Chohany Declares Candidacy for State Senate

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mickey Chohany

Chohany, co-owner of Second Street Restaurant and Tavern and a former City Council member, announced his decision to run in a press release Friday. He will seek the Republican nomination.

“Since I began considering a candidacy for the Virginia Senate, I have heard from local and state leaders, my colleagues in the business community and friends,” he said. “Their overwhelmingly positive response and expressions of support, as well as my family’s encouragement, has led me to determine that now is the right time to make this race.”

When the Senate approved its plan to redraw district lines in April, Williamsburg was shifted from Republican Sen. Tommy Norment’s 3rd District to Democrat Sen. John Miller’s 1st District. The Democrat-controlled Senate passed a bill that would have split the city between districts, but Gov. Bob McDonnell vetoed that plan. The final redistricting plan kept the city intact, but moved it to the 1st District, which also includes parts of James City and York counties, Newport News, Hampton and Suffolk.

Chohany (pronounced CHO-han) is a Williamsburg native. He lives in the city with his wife, Vicki, and their two daughters. He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1978 and received a degree in Business Administration from Christopher Newport College (now University) in 1982. Three years later, he and his brother, John, purchased Second Street Restaurant.

He’s been active in the Williamsburg business community as a principal founder and three-term president of the Williamsburg Area Restaurant Association; he currently serves on WARA’s Board of Directors. In 1999, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Williamsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, a position he held for four years.

In 2004, he ran for Williamsburg City Council and served one term, from 2004 to 2008. Currently, he serves as co-chair of the Northeast Triangle Focus Group, tasked with coming up with a vision to revitalize the corner of the city where his business is located.

He was initially interested in running for Council because he saw a need for a voice like his. He’s proudest that he was the sole member to cast a dissenting vote when Council gave approval, along with several other localities, to create the Hampton Roads Transportation Authority in 2007. The HRTA undertakes transportation projects in the 12 localities represented. In February 2008, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that portions of the 2007 transportation law were unconstitutional because the General Assembly could not give an unelected body the power to tax.

“I stood out as the lone dissenter of approving that,” Chohany said Friday, adding, “When you’re standing out on a limb on your own, it’s gratifying to know that you made the right decision.”

When his term ended in 2008, he did not seek reelection because he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. At the time, his daughters were in elementary and high school, but now they’re in high school and college.

In his campaign announcement, Chohany says his experience as a businessman gives him perspective about the challenges of creating jobs in the present economy. His business-friendly platform is to keep regulations to a minimum and taxes low. He said now is the right time to run for office because the 1st district is “no longer represented by folks familiar with tourism, who understand our localities as well as I and Norment.”

“As a husband and father, I know the challenges our families face when trying to make ends meet in an economy that is sluggish, inconsistent and unpredictable. We need voices in Richmond who understand that more government is not the answer and that higher taxes stifle economic growth,” Chohany said. “Our representatives must also understand that our local schools must be responsive to the needs of our students and communities, and ensure that higher education is affordable and accessible.”

He also named two issues that he hopes to address if elected: tourism and transportation. “The tourism sector of our economy, which is critical to the prosperity of our region, is being threatened again by higher prices at the pump and a struggling economy,” he said. “Our region’s manufacturing sector continues to face hurdles, with stiff competition from overseas and other states. And, we have to build upon the progress made by the Governor’s transportation initiative by placing us on a course to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.”

He believes his career as a businessman gives him an insight into fiscal responsibility that many lawmakers don’t possess. “We understand you can’t spend it if you don’t have it. It makes a huge difference when you have your name on the front of the check versus the back of it,” he said.

Chohany will challenge incumbent Miller, a Newport News resident who was elected to the seat in 2007. Miller serves on the Senate committees for Education and Health, Transportation, General Laws and Technology and Rehabilitation and Social Services. He also serves on a panel studying the future of Ft. Monroe, the commission studying the future of ports and was named to the National Conference of State Legislators Transportation Committee.

Prior to joining the General Assembly, Miller was a broadcast journalist for WVEC-TV, an administrator with WHRO, an aide to United States Senator Paul Trible and an administrator at Christopher Newport University. He is currently the Director of Development and Marketing at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.