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Raese Making Moves To Enter Race
Bertha was told by those in the know that the Morgantown multi-millionaire businessman had made certain that his two daughters are now enrolled in West Virginia schools rather than those in Florida, where they were students when Raese made his most recent run for the United States senate last year. While those in the Raese camp emphatically argued that where his girls attended school should not be an issue in a political campaign, commercials and whispers by the campaign of Democrat Joe Manchin pointed out that the Raese daughters attended school in Florida. They further pointed out that Raese’s wife, Liz, could not even vote for her husband because she was registered to vote in the Sunshine State. Some GOP stalwarts noted that the primary reason for Mrs. Raese’s registration in Florida was likely for tax advantages although the Republican’s campaign insisted that all such matters were personal and never really explained the situation. While nobody at the capitol was saying that Liz Raese had re-registered in the Mountain State as the week drew to a close last week, most were saying that she was being seen in Morgantown a lot more than in sunny Florida these days. The word that the Raese girls are attending school in West Virginia comes on the heels of many in the state GOP urging Raese to jump into the soon-to-be-held primary for governor since they think he is their ideal candidate. Already bolstered by name recognition, the media/natural resource owner clearly can finance his own statewide campaign as he has done in the past. Raese also lost to Manchin, clearly a popular two-term governor, by what some would consider a slight margin of just ten percentage points. Those urging the Morgantown businessman to run think that means he would have an excellent chance of defeating what they think are lesser-known Democrats in what has to be seen as a short-term campaign. If Raese enters the GOP field, he would join former Secretary of State Betty Scott Ireland and State Senator Clark Barnes. Those asking Raese to run think he would be the immediate favorite in that trio and clearly would have the advantage of funding, since he can provide his own money to make the run. The Morgantown businessman, whose holdings include the daily newspaper there, routinely uses media advertising in his campaigns. Some felt his Senate campaign focused too much on opposition to Democrat President Barack Obama. The theme, “Rubber Stamp Joe” branded Manchin as a party loyalist that would consistently vote with the national Democrat agenda no matter what West Virginians wanted once he was in Washington. Raese did manage to garner the support of Tea Party activists during his Senate campaign and he would be expected to keep that support if he runs for Governor. That key ingredient might make him a formidable opponent for any of the Democrats in the general election, including State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, who “acts” as Governor since Manchin became a Senator. Polls have shown Tomblin and current Secretary of State Natalie Tennant at the front of the Democrat field, although State Treasurer John Perdue is thought to be another formidable candidate. With the short window of opportunity for the election, with the primary only three months away, Raese’s entry in the race would surely set up an interesting and provocative run. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com WVPolitico - West Virginia Politics - Raese making moves to enter race |
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