OK, we knew WVa Republican John Raese was rich, but this something else -- Democrats claim the Senate candidate is offering $25 payouts to those who write the most letters-to-the-editor in their counties. (He does like newspapers.)

Dare we say it's working? The left-leaning Public Policy Polling says Raese has opened up a 3-point lead over frontrunner and sitting Gov. Joe Manchin in the race, 46-43%. (TPM)

Here's a news release from the WVa Dem party, with a pdf of the flyer after:

Charleston, W.Va. – At a rally in Charleston yesterday, the Raese campaign distributed flyers offering  to pay people $25 for sending letters-to-the-editor to newspapers.

“Offering money for people to write letters for your campaign is very questionable at best,” WV Democratic Party Executive Director Derek Scarbro said. “Having to pay people to say nice things about you is very desperate and unethical. John Raese already owns several media outlets but now he thinks he needs to pay voters to get his talking points in other newspapers?”

A copy of the flyer is attached.

The flyer, which asks people to “email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ”  also lacks the proper disclaimer as required by the Federal Elections Commission.

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