[2] Chovanec obtained a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Law at the University of West Bohemia.

[4] On 26 October 2013, Chovanec attended a private meeting of ČSSD politicians attempting to exclude Bohuslav Sobotka from the party leadership election.

Chovanec was the first to publicly admit the meeting, and retained his place in the party leadership,[5] despite offering his resignation to Sobotka.

[8] On 26 January 2014, Chovanec resigned as governor of the Plzeň region and was replaced by Václav Šlajs.

[10] At the end of 2014, Chovanec ran successfully to become vice-chair of ČSSD,[11] defeating Jeroným Tejc [cs] in the second round of the election with 253 votes.