Dec 19, 2006 By Amy Zalar 2 min read

John “Sonny” Mikita, the Republican candidate who lost his bid for state representative of the 51st District to Democratic candidate Timothy S. Mahoney last month, has changed his voter registration to Democrat. Laurie Lint, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, confirmed Monday that Mikita switched his party affiliation last Friday.

Mikita couldn’t be reached for comment about his reasons for the switch.

In the Nov. 7 election, Mikita received 5,858 votes compared to 9,476 votes for Mahoney, according to official election results.

Ironically, during the primary campaign, Mikita was accused by fellow Republican candidate Harry Hughes of being put into the race by Mahoney and Fayette County Democratic Chairman Fred Lebder.

Mikita easily defeated Hughes to win the Republican nomination in the May 16 primary.

By switching his party registration, Mikita will return to the party of which he was a member when he ran for office in the spring of 1999.

Mikita ran on the Democratic ballot, finishing fifth in a field of five in seeking the Democratic nomination for Fayette County Controller. Mark Roberts, who won the Democratic nomination for controller, went on to win the general election and then also defeated Mikita four years later to win re-election, after Mikita changed his voter registration to Republican.

Mikita, 36, of Uniontown is the owner of Antique Heaven, and is a certified appraiser. During the campaign, he stressed the need for open records and transparency in government.

He has worked in insurance, real estate and estate services and attended the Alan Kells School of Real Estate.

He was a past member of the Brownsville Area School Board, where he served as a chairman of finance and chairman of personnel.

He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing, management and business writing.