You Are Where You Live
ShareAs the Hotline noted today, Richard Tarrant, a GOP Senate candidate in VT, returned more than $4K to Broward Co. Florida on 1/23 after acknowledging that he and his wife claimed improperly homestead exemptions in two states -- FL and VT.
It's a common error for families with homes in more than one state; if you claim an exemption in one, you usually can't claim an exemption in another.
Tarrant made his fortune in VT and made plans to move to FL in '02. That's where his wife, Deb, was living. But Tarrant decided his heart was with his company, and he was recruited by national Republicans to run against Bernie Sanders (I) for Jim Jeffords; Senate seat. Tarrant called the experience, according to Burlington Free Press, a lesson in politics.
A second NRSC recruit may face political questions because of a similar, although not entirely analogous living arrangement.
John Raese, a well-known West Virginia industrialist, lives with his wife Liz and two daughters in a sun-baked mansion abutting the intercoastal waterway in Palm Beach, Co. Florida.
The Raeses love their home; Liz Raese volunteers at her daughters' school nearby. And for the past several years, Florida law has rewarded their fealty by subtracting $25,000 from their tax assessments -- a homestead exemption that any permanent resident of the state can claim. [MARC AMBINDER]
But John Raese is not a Floridian. In 1984, he challenged Jay Rockefeller for an open WV Senate seat, losing by a percentage point. Four years later, after a stint as state party chair, he ran unsuccessfully against a sitting Republican governor. The two losses dampened his enthusiasm for politics, and he dove back into business. A entrepreneur who owns television stations and a newspaper, he's one of the state's more generous philanthropists.
And, urged on by the White House and the Republican National Committee, he's strongly considering a bid to challenge incumbent Sen. Robert Byrd, a Democrat. National Republicans consider him their last best shot and Democrats are awaiting his entrance. Only a self-funder, the thinking is, could possibly have a shot at dethroning Byrd, who has faced opponents with negligible money since at least '82. Still, it's not clear how West Virginians think Raese stacks up to Byrd. The state's filing deadline is Monday, Jan. 27.
Raese is a legal resident of WV. His family home in Morgantown is on the National Register of Historic Places. By all accounts, Raese himself spends a good deal of time tending to his companies in the state. (Republicans will probably say he gets more face-time with average West Virginians than Sen. Byrd does.)
But Liz Raise, in a 2002 document filed with the property assessor in Palm Beach County, declared Florida as her permanent, primary home. That allowed her to seek and obtain the $25,000 exemption. Other county assessment documents make it clear that both John and Liz Raese are agents of the property. They co-signed a mortgage and their names jointly appear on several documents filed to notify the county about construction work on their property.
A 2005 "notice of commencement" lists Elizabeth and John Raese as the owner of the property. A subsequent entry states that the home is the "personal residence" of the owners. Filed in 2001 when the Raeses added a patio and spa to their home, lists "Mr. and Mrs. John Raese" as the owners, although Liz Raese wrote her name in ink above the typed notation listing both Raeses.
The Democratic line of attack, should it arise, would portray Raese as a dilettante -- a long-shot candidate whose family lives in a Palm Beach, FL mansion. Republicans say Raese is talented and are happy to watch Dems underestimate him.
"By attacking an unannounced candidate Democrats are telling me they see how vulnerable Senator Byrd is," said Dan Ronayne, an NRSC spokesman. "If Democrats are looking to make an issue of time spent back in West Virginia they may be barking up the wrong tree."
Advertisement
Join the Discussion