Charles Chvala


Charles J. "Chuck" Chvala is a Wisconsin political commentator, businessman and former state legislator.

Early life

Born in Merrill, Wisconsin, Chvala's family moved to Madison where he attended La Follette High School, and served as a student member of the Madison School Board. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later received his J.D. degree from its law school.

Career

Before running for office, Chvala was a practicing lawyer. He served as board chairman of Vets House, a non-profit; and as a board member of The Attic, another non-profit.
Chvala currently practices law in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition, he is involved in several real estate projects, and serves as a regular contributor to The Insiders, a political commentary series in Wisconsin.

State Assembly

In 1978, Chvala ran unsuccessfully for the 37th Assembly district, which encompassed parts of Madison's far east, finishing second in a five-person Democratic primary. Over the next four years, battles in the legislature and courts redrew and renumbered districts, and in 1982 he ran for the 98th Assembly district, which encompassed parts of Madison's far east side, finishing first out of a five-candidate primary and easily winning the general election.

State Senate

He served in the Wisconsin State Senate from January 1985 until January 2005.
From 1995-2002 he led Senate Democrats during a time of razor-thin, one-vote party balances, leading to flips between Democratic and Republican leadership control. For example, Chvala was majority leader in early 1998, but in April Republican Mary Lazich won a special election to replace Democratic Sen. Lynn Adelman, who had been appointed to the federal bench, which flipped control of the 17-16 chamber to Republicans, making Chvala minority leader. A few months later, Democrats won in the fall elections by a one-seat margin, flipping control back in January 1999, making Chvala majority leader again.
In the fall of 2002, Chvala and other legislative leaders were ensnared in a caucus scandal. He was charged with 20 felony counts, including extortion, misconduct in public office and filing false election reports. He pleaded guilty to two counts, and was sentenced to nine months in jail with two years of probation.

Campaign for governor

In 1994, he was the Democratic nominee for governor, and lost in the general election to then-Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1978, 1982)

Wisconsin Senate (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000)

Wisconsin Governor (1994)