CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- During his unsuccessful 2006 race to unseat Sen. Robert C. Byrd, Morgantown businessman John Raese was questioned about whether he was an official resident of West Virginia or Florida.

Those same questions are coming up again during Raese's current race against Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, for the late Sen. Byrd's seat.

Raese's campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said on Wednesday, "John Raese is a West Virginia resident. Period. He pays income and property taxes there and any attempts to claim otherwise are acts of desperation by a hopelessly listing campaign."

Elizabeth S. Raese, John's wife, is an official resident of Palm Springs, Fla., where their two daughters have attended school.

Earlier this week, Chris Matthews said on MSNBC's "Hardball" that "John Raese is running for Senate against Joe Manchin, the governor of West Virginia, but there's some question about whether Raese actually lives there. The law says you have to be a permanent resident of the state by Election Day, but Raese owns homes in Florida, Colorado and West Virginia....

"He and his wife took a [$50,000] tax exemption on the Florida home. An exemption only available to permanent residents of Florida," Matthews said. "Raese is trying to explain that it's his wife, not him, who got the exemption."

Questions also have been raised about whether John Raese files personal income tax returns in West Virginia, since Florida does not require its official residents to pay any personal income taxes at all.

(The West Virginia Department of Tax and Revenue does not release any information about individual taxpayers.)

McLaughlin declined to respond to several specific questions about Raese's tax filings, including:

 

How much do the Raeses pay in West Virginia taxes, as opposed to Florida taxes?

 

 

Since Florida has no state income tax, do the Raeses use their Florida residence to avoid paying West Virginia income taxes?

 

 

Specifically, has John Raese paid state personal income taxes in West Virginia?

 

One thing is clear: Elizabeth will not be voting for her husband next month. She registered to vote in Palm Springs in 2001, casting her first ballot there in 2002. The most recent election in which Elizabeth voted there was in 2008, according to a spokeswoman at offices of the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections.

Palm Beach County Property Appraiser records confirm Elizabeth and John Raese jointly own property at 286 Jamaica Lane in Palm Beach, near the Intracoastal Waterway. Both of their names are on the official property deed.

The appraised value of their Palm Beach estate dropped from $3.6 million in 2008, to $3 million in 2009 and $2.7 million in 2010, according to the appraiser's records. Their property taxes in Palm Beach rose from $47,857 to $51,168 between 2008 and 2010.

John Raese also owns a Morgantown home listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is registered to vote in Monongalia County.

The main offices of Greer Industries, his limestone company, also are in Morgantown.

In 2006, Raese objected to questions raised about his official residency when he was running against Byrd.

"When asked about his residency by a Parkersburg newspaper [in June 2006], Raese countered by questioning Byrd's decision to bury his late wife in Virginia," The Associated Press reported.

Raese's campaign website describes him as "a conservative Republican, an accomplished businessman, an avid sportsman and hunter and a life-long resident of West Virginia."

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.