John Raese (center) waits in Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's office as Sean Hill (left) checks Raese's paperwork for this year's U.S. Senate race. Tennant (right) and Dave Nichols wait with Raese, who was one of 10 Republicans to file for the race on Thursday.
Click here to read excerpts from the announcement on Squawk Box.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Morgantown businessman and past U.S. Senate candidate John Raese topped a suddenly crowded field of Republican candidates who filed Thursday for the special election to fill the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's unexpired term.
Raese, who was soundly defeated by Byrd in the 2006 U.S. Senate race, said he believes the current climate is much more favorable for a political outsider.
"It appears to me the American public has had about enough," Raese said Thursday.
"There wasn't the outrage that there is today," he said of his 2006 election defeat.
Raese has been known in past races -- including a near-upset of Sen. Jay Rockefeller in 1984 -- for his brash comments and outrageous campaign ads.
Raese said the timing of his announcement -- barely 30 hours before today's 5 p.m. filing deadline -- was influenced by U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's official notice on Wednesday that she would not run for the Senate.
"I don't like to run against any Republicans, period," Raese said.
While Raese was the first Republican to file for the unexpired term Thursday, over the course of the day, he was joined by nine other Republican hopefuls.
"We've got a team now," said Raese, who quipped that he had not anticipated enough Republicans filing to field a baseball team.
While his immediate focus will be on the Aug. 28 special primary, Raese said his ultimate aim is a Nov. 2 special election showdown with Gov. Joe Manchin.
In his initial comments, Raese has attempted to portray Manchin as a liberal who, as a U.S. senator, would be closely aligned with President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Click here to read excerpts from the announcement on Squawk Box.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Morgantown businessman and past U.S. Senate candidate John Raese topped a suddenly crowded field of Republican candidates who filed Thursday for the special election to fill the late U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd's unexpired term.
Raese, who was soundly defeated by Byrd in the 2006 U.S. Senate race, said he believes the current climate is much more favorable for a political outsider.
"It appears to me the American public has had about enough," Raese said Thursday.
"There wasn't the outrage that there is today," he said of his 2006 election defeat.
Raese has been known in past races -- including a near-upset of Sen. Jay Rockefeller in 1984 -- for his brash comments and outrageous campaign ads.
Raese said the timing of his announcement -- barely 30 hours before today's 5 p.m. filing deadline -- was influenced by U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's official notice on Wednesday that she would not run for the Senate.
"I don't like to run against any Republicans, period," Raese said.
While Raese was the first Republican to file for the unexpired term Thursday, over the course of the day, he was joined by nine other Republican hopefuls.
"We've got a team now," said Raese, who quipped that he had not anticipated enough Republicans filing to field a baseball team.
While his immediate focus will be on the Aug. 28 special primary, Raese said his ultimate aim is a Nov. 2 special election showdown with Gov. Joe Manchin.
In his initial comments, Raese has attempted to portray Manchin as a liberal who, as a U.S. senator, would be closely aligned with President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Questioned on whether he can convince voters that Manchin is a liberal, Raese responded, "Is he really a conservative? Is he really a pro-business guy? When you sit there and support Barack Obama, who says he's going to do away with fossil fuels ... I wonder if he's much of a conservative."
Raese contends that Manchin hasn't stood up to Obama, as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal or Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has done.
"I've never heard him denounce Obama one time," Raese said of Manchin.
He said that Manchin's temporary appointee to fill Byrd's seat, Carte Goodwin -- or "Carte Blanche" as Raese called him -- has taken the Democratic Party line on all of his Senate votes to date.
"If you send Manchin to Washington, are you getting a check-and-balance on the system? I don't think you are," Raese said.
Raese is the wealthy president and CEO of Greer Industries, which includes steel and limestone company, the Dominion Post newspaper and the West Virginia Radio Corporation, which includes the statewide MetroNews radio network and 15 radio stations, including several in the Charleston area.
Raese announced his candidacy on his statewide radio network Thursday morning.
The remaining Republican candidates were headed by Mac Warner, a Morgantown developer who finished second in a six-way primary for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District in May.
Other candidates include Albert Howard of San Pedro, Calif., who also ran in the 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary; Lynette Kennedy McQuain, who also is on the November ballot for the House of Delegates in Marion County; Thomas Ressler of Falling Waters, Kenneth A. Culp of Summersville, Charles G. "Bud" Railey of Bridgeport, Harry C. Bruner Jr. of Charleston, and Scott H. Williams and Daniel Scott Rebich, both of Buckhannon.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.
