In another twist to the controversy over John Raese's residency, his wife Elizabeth has recently been purged from West Virginia's voter roll.
Though John Raese’s campaign has repeatedly confirmed that he lives and pays taxes in West Virginia, an investigation by the nonpartisan PolitiFact.com showed that his wife has been registered to vote in Palm Beach County, Fla., since 2001 and voted there in 2008.
Roll Call independently confirmed with Monongalia County (W.Va.) Clerk Carye Blaney that Elizabeth Raese is also registered to vote in Morgantown, W.Va., where she and her husband own a home, but she hasn’t voted there in 12 years.
Blaney said she requested and received certification from Palm Beach County on Friday that Elizabeth Raese has been living and voting there, so she will remove the candidate’s wife from the county voter rolls.
Politifact did some digging in response to an explosive ad from Joe Manchin. The results? No matter what Elizabeth Raese may say, she's a Floridian.
According to public records checked by Politifact, the Raeses bought a 6,900 square foot home in Palm Beach County back in 1999. Elizabeth is listed as the owner, and qualified for a homestead tax exemption available to Florida homeowners. She also has a Florida driver's license.
The problem? Florida has no personal income tax. Sounds like Manchin's claim that Raese moved his family to Florida to reduce his tax burden sounds pretty credible. After all, nearly all of the things Elizabeth could use to prove where her ties are indicate they're in Florida.
Update: Now that this is on the rec list, I figured I should embed Manchin's ad. Wanted to earlier, but ran out of room in the intro.