BOSTON — Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for governor, faced questions Monday before a state commission that will decide whether his residency status during the past three years should disqualify him from running for election in Massachusetts.
The state Democratic Party is seeking to have Romney removed from the ballot, charging that the way he filed taxes and other decisions he made since 1999 indicate that he was acting as a resident of Utah, where he moved to become head of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
On Monday, Romney testified for hours before the Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission, which has until June 28 to decide if he has met the constitutional requirement that a gubernatorial candidate be an "inhabitant" of the state for seven years before an election.
Many of the questions from the Democrats' lawyer, Joseph D. Steinfield, focused on Romney's tax filings in Utah and Massachusetts. In 1999 and 2000, Romney paid state taxes as a Utah resident and listed himself as either a part-time resident or a nonresident of Massachusetts. And he received a $54,500 property tax break for the home he owned in Park City, a discount that applies only to those who claim a primary residence in Utah.
Also on Monday, the commission ordered Romney to produce the final pages of his 1999 and 2000 Massachusetts tax forms, which showed that he had left blank the line for listing where his "domicile" or principal home was.
Until a couple of weeks ago, Romney had said that he had paid his taxes as a Massachusetts resident while in Utah. Then, in early June, he acknowledged that that was not true and said that in April, after deciding to run for governor, he had amended his 1999 and 2000 tax returns to say that he was actually a resident of Massachusetts.
Steinfield asked Romney on Monday about other aspects of his residency. Democrats have pointed out that Romney obtained a Utah driver's license, had bank statements and checks with his Utah address on them, and received tax bills in Utah for a New Hampshire property in his wife's name. Romney acknowledged that there is no property in Massachusetts in his name; the house he has in the Boston suburb of Belmont is in his wife's name.
Steinfield also pointed out that except for the presidential primary and election, Romney did not vote in Massachusetts in 2000 and 2001, even by absentee ballot. But his lawyer, John T. Montgomery, said Monday that the critical proof of Romney's status as a Massachusetts resident was that he never voted in Utah.
Romney was also questioned about newspaper reports in the past couple of years that said he was considering seeking elective office in Utah. And he was asked about an April 2000 article in The Deseret News, which reported that he had declared Utah his primary residence for tax purposes.
Romney said Tuesday that he did not remember whether he said that to the Deseret News reporter, Lisa Riley Roche.
Under the order of a Utah state judge, Roche on Monday signed an affidavit attesting to the accuracy of her April 11, 2000, article. The contents of the document are sealed.
The Deseret News challenged the Ballot Law Commission's subpoena, arguing Roche had a qualified First Amendment privilege not to testify about her reporting. Third District Judge Ronald Nehring disagreed and upheld the subpoena. However, he limited the inquiry to three questions, including whether Romney ever requested a correction to the front-page story. He did not.
Although Romney's aides initially said that a clerical error was responsible for his Utah home being listed as his primary residence, on Monday he said, "It would not surprise me that I would claim Utah as my primary residence for tax purposes because that's exactly what I have done."
But he repeated Monday that he never asked for the Utah tax break and said, "I've spoken publicly saying I'd be happy to pay it if I owe it."
Montgomery, who will question Romney on Tuesday, said that Romney's decision to leave furniture, clothing, photo albums and his birth certificate in Belmont provided evidence that his home has been in Massachusetts since 1971.
In recent days Romney has fought the Democrats' allegations with a television commercial, which features him strolling in Belmont where, he says, "I've lived, voted, raised a family and paid taxes for 30 years." In the commercial, he calls the charges about his residency status "ridiculous, dirty politics," and says the Democrats "are suing to push me off the ballot because I spent three years in Utah working on the Olympics."
On Monday, outside the hearing room, Romney called the Democratic questioning "a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing. I guess if you don't have the facts on your side, you bore everybody to death."
In addition, state Republicans have raised questions about the residency status of Robert Reich, the former U.S. Labor secretary, who is one of five Democratic candidates for governor. Jean Inman, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, challenged Reich to release tax records to prove his claim that he became a full-time Massachusetts resident in August 1995, and therefore narrowly met the residency requirement.
Dorie Clark, a spokeswoman for Reich, who in April disclosed his full 2001 tax returns, has said Reich will release his past returns only if the other candidates, including Romney, released theirs.
Contributing: Angie Welling.