Gov. candidate Mihos sued by former campaign manager

BOSTON - Republican gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos is being sued by his former campaign manager, who says he is owed tens of thousands of dollars for unpaid services.

Joe Manzoli said Mihos owes him $44,500 for work he did for the convenience store magnate's bid to win the GOP nomination for governor.

Manzoli's lawyer said she filed the civil lawsuit Wednesday in Worcester District Court.

"He had a contract for consulting services for Christy Mihos and the campaign committee. He was being paid and then the payments stopped," said Margaret Melican, who is representing Manzoli.

The $44,500 is the balance he's owed, she said.

Mihos said he was unaware of the lawsuit. He said he paid Manzoli more then $60,000 and tried to settle amicably with him last week.

"We offered him what we said we were going to pay him and we have not heard back from him directly," Mihos said in a telephone interview. "I have no idea what he is alleging."

Although Mihos has pumped hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into his run for office, his campaign has been plagued with staff upheavals and financial problems. His latest filing with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance showed a campaign balance of just over $4,000.

Mihos said he is being targeted because he is a political outsider. He's running against fellow Republican Charles Baker who was human services secretary and the chief financial officer in the administrations of former GOP governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci.

"When you run for political office people say and do anything to get money out of you," he said. "When you're an outsider and you have a record like mine for taking on the system, you get knuckled under."

Manzoli said he just wants to get paid.

"Everything I talk about is facts and figures," he said. "Christy can say whatever he wants. I go by the facts."