2002 Mitt Romney residency issue

During the 2002 Massachusetts governor’s race, one widely discussed issue was whether Republican Candidate Willard Mitt Romney was eligible to run for governor under the state constitution’s residency requirements.

Massachusetts residency requirements

Chapter II, Article II of the Massachusetts State Constitution states that “...no person shall be eligible to this office [governor] , unless at the time of his election, he shall have been an inhabitant of this commonwealth for seven years next preceding.”

Romney’s residency status

Born and raised in Michigan and having graduated from college in Utah, Romney moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University to earn an M.B.A. and a J.D., graduating in 1975. He remained in Massachusetts until 1999, when he returned to Utah to take a job as of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee in charge of planning the scandal-plagued 2002 Winter Olympics.

While Romney kept his house Belmont, Massachusetts after 1999, it is debatable whether that was his primary residence from then until 2002, as for most of that time he lived at house in Park City, Utah and worked there also.

Further complicating the issue was that in while living in Utah, Romney had filed taxes as a Utah resident, receiving a $54,000 tax break (reserved for the “primary residence” of Utah residents) on his $3.8 million home in Park City. Additionally, in 1999 his Massachusetts state tax return listed him as a part-time resident and his 2000 tax return listed him as a full-time Utah resident.

In April 2002, after returning to the state and deciding to run for governor, Romney altered his 1999 and 2000 tax returns, changing his residency status for those years to Massachusetts resident from Utah resident.

Election issue

The residency question was first brought up by, then acting-governor, Jane Swift’s campaign but she did not pursue the issue after deciding not to run against Romney in the Republican primary.

Later in the campaign, some state Democrats picked up the issue over Romney’s eligibility and requested that the state ballot commission perform an investigation as to whether Romney met the requirements to run for governor. On June 25, the state ballot commission, (appointed by the Republican governor and consisting of 3 Republicans, 1 Democrat and 1 Independent) effectively ended the debate when it ruled that there was not enough evidence to show that Romney was ineligible to run for governor, and the State democratic party decided it was politically inopportune to contest the ruling in court.

External links

* [http://www.02133.org/issue.cfm?ID=72&Mode=Background Chronology of 2002 Governor’s Race]
* [http://2002.ksl.com/news-6850i.php?p=0 Early News article about Romney’s Campaign]
* [http://cltg.org/cltg/cltg2002/02-02-27.htm A Collection Boston Herald Articles Early 2002]
* [http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2002/06/17/daily13.html Romney Questioned About Residency]
* [http://www.s-t.com/daily/06-02/06-26-02/a01sr008.htm Ballot Commission Rules Romney Can Run]
* [http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/55b-1.htm Mass. State Ballot Law Commission]