In 1st District: Elect Chohany

Newport News-based Orion Air Group wanted a tax break. In Richmond, it lobbied for a bill providing an aircraft sales and use tax exemption for any aviation company that invests at least $4 million at a public airport and creates 50 or more new jobs that pay a minimum of one and a half times the prevailing average local wage.

The bill - and the resulting law - so far appears to apply only to Orion.

Sen. Tommy Norment, a Republican in the 3rd District, which includes part of James City County and other Peninsula localities, introduced the bill and steered it through committee. Public records show the company contributed $1,500 this year to his campaign.

Sen. John Miller, a Democrat in the 1st District, which includes part of Newport News and part of north Suffolk, signed onto the bill as the sole co-patron in the Democratic-led Senate. He also got $1,500.

Orion satisfied the investment requirement of the bill at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, in Miller's district.

The bill took effect July 1.

At that point, this was just another Virginia political story.

But less than a week later, Miller became Orion's director of community relations.

Miller denies any impropriety. He said he hadn't heard from Orion until May, after the legislative session ended, when company President Scott Terry invited him to lunch. During that meeting, according to Miller, Terry inquired about how he could get involved personally in Democratic politics. Terry also mentioned he was looking to hire a director of community relations.

Miller, who was director of marketing and development at the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula, said he called Terry a few weeks later and expressed interest in the job.

Miller not only denies any impropriety, he denies those events give even an appearance of impropriety.

He's wrong. And he should know better.

Virginia's part-time legislature necessitates that most lawmakers have full-time employment. No one can fault Miller for seeking work. But he, like all other elected officials, can't afford to sacrifice credibility.

And that's what Miller has done.

His Republican challenger in Tuesday's election, Mickey Chohany, is a restaurateur and former Williamsburg City Council member. His positions on various issues, including transportation and offshore drilling, won't serve the best interests of constituents in the 1st District.

Miller has been a reasonable moderate, supporting the governor's budget and transportation plan and opposing offshore drilling.

But if politicians must be held to a high ethical standard, if they must avoid even the appearance of using a public office for self-enrichment, Miller has disqualified himself.

That leaves Chohany as the only choice.