John Reeves Raese (/ˈreɪsiː/ RAY-see; born April 10, 1950)[1] is an American businessman and perennial Republican Party candidate for political office in West Virginia.

Greer Industries also owns Seneca Caverns, a tourist spot in eastern West Virginia.

Raese was elected as chairman of the West Virginia Republican Party in the summer of 1986, defeating intraparty rival Arch A. Moore Jr.'s preferred candidate.

During his tenure, he supported allowing independent voters in West Virginia to vote in Republican Party primaries.

[4][5] Raese opposes abortion, human cloning and federally funded stem cell research.

Raese ran as a "Reagan Republican", a traditional conservative on both economic and social policies, and he challenged Rockefeller's record on sensitive issues such as coal mine closures in the state.

Some national news organizations were preparing for a possible upset by the little-known Raese as the general election approached.

In 1988, Raese ran against three-term Republican governor Arch A. Moore Jr. in the GOP gubernatorial primary, losing 53%–47%.

In the general election, Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky stumped for Raese.

In the 2008 Republican presidential primaries, he supported former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, donating $1,000 to his campaign in 2007.

Raese subsequently won the Republican nomination, but was defeated by his Democratic opponent, Joe Manchin, in the general election.

In 2010 Golf Digest[22] rated it a Best New Private course, "in part because of [the] dogleg par 5 around the rim of a deep gulch, the sort of audacity one would expect from amateur architects."