Battleground GOP candidates rally around Trump’s tax cuts for the rich

Multiple Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate want to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, an unpopular Trump era law that gave tax breaks to wealthy people and big corporations.

Many provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025, making the future of the law likely contingent on the next election. Former President Donald Trump pledged on April 8 to extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. President Biden has proposed reducing taxes for working families while increasing rates for large corporations and those earning over $400,000 annually.

David McCormick, a Republican running for Senate in Pennsylvania, is likely a direct beneficiary of Trump’s tax law. McCormick was an executive at the capital investment firm Bridgewater Associates from 2009 to 2022. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2022 that McCormick’s net worth likely exceeds $100 million.  

“I think the policy we should have going forward on taxes and the economy is to make permanent the Trump tax cuts,” McCormick said at a 2022 campaign forum.

McCormick will likely face incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in the general election.

Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde also likely benefited from Trump’s tax law. Hovde was the CEO of Sunwest Bank and owns beachside property in southern California. He is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

Hovde praised the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2019.

“I’m not promoting President Trump, you know whether you like him or not, but the one thing he has been good with is the economy…” Hovde said. “His deregulation program and obviously his tax reform act was very good for businesses.”

Even the rare Trump critics in the Republican Party have endorsed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for Senate in Michigan, told the PBS program “Off the Record” in 2023 that while Trump’s acerbic style was problematic, his tax cuts for the rich were representative of core Republican principles.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan, who launched a bid for Maryland’s open Senate seat on Feb. 9, told The Atlantic in May 2022 that Trump’s tax cuts were one of the only things he liked about the Trump presidency.

This stance could put Hogan at odds with many Marylanders. Trump’s law capped the state and local tax deduction (SALT), which allows taxpayers to deduct certain state and local taxes on their federal income tax returns. A 2018 analysis by the Maryland Bureau of Revenue determined this would create a higher tax bill for than a half million Maryland residents.

Sam Brown, a Republican running for Senate in Nevada, signed the  Americans For Tax Reform Taxpayer Protection Pledge, a promise to oppose all tax hikes for corporations or individuals. On Feb. 17, Brown endorsed making the Trump tax cuts permanent.

Brown is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen who voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Trump has endorsed Hovde and Rogers.

An Impact Research poll from March found that 70% of Americans feel corporations and billionaires should pay more in taxes.