West Virginia Governor Wants to Be Senator

He says he's running on a platform made up of West Virginia values and West Virginia common sense.

Morgantown Businessman John Raese is the Republican Nominee for U.S. Senate. "This one is winnable," he told his supporters Saturday night in Morgantown after securing the nomination.

He will face Governor Joe Manchin, the Democrat Nominee, during the November 2nd General Election.

Raese says he is not afraid of a challenge.

"I look forward to this race," he says. "I think that this race is going to go down as the key Senate race in the United States today."

He unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 1984 against U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller and U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd in 2006, the longtime Senator's last election.

In 1986, he was selected to be Chairman of the state Republican Party and ran for Governor in 1988 and lost that race too.

"It's not how many times you lose, it's how many times you win." Raese says Abraham Lincoln lost eight races in a row. "It doesn't make any difference whatsoever."

He calls Governor Joe Manchin a "leftist liberal" who does not represent the views of West Virginians, as a whole.

"If you send Governor Manchin to Washington, you're going to have a rubber stamp for (President) Barack Obama."

Raese is the President and CEO of Greer Industries, the parent company of Greer Limestone, Greer Steel and Preston County Coal and Coke.

He is the Dominion Post's Vice President and serves as Chairman of the Board for West Virginia Radio Corporation, a company made up of 25 radio stations along with the MetroNews Radio Network, with affiliates throughout West Virginia.

In addition, he also owns Pikewood Creative, a video production company based in Morgantown, and the Pikewood National Golf Club.

Raese and his wife, Liz, have two daughters.