Republican Josh Williams: I support tax breaks for the rich

Republican House candidate Josh Williams said the quiet part out loud when he admitted that a new state budget will provide tax relief for the “richest Americans.”

Williams currently serves in the Ohio House of Representatives. He is running for Congress in the state’s 9th District next year.

“We just provided tax relief to some of the richest Americans in Ohio in the last budget,” he told the Statehouse News Bureau on Sept. 12. “I supported that.”

Williams’ remark comes as House Republicans are struggling to convince voters that they care about the needs of working families after passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which makes deep cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthy.

Ohio’s budget, passed by the Republican-controlled legislature in June, created a flat tax that lowers rates for the wealthy while raising them for many workers. Like the OBBB, it slashes funding for environmental and health care programs to make up for lost revenue.

“The Republican supermajority made a choice with this budget, and now billionaires are walking away with your taxpayer dollars in their pockets,” said Democratic state Rep. Karen Brownlee.

Williams has voiced support for OBBB and criticized his Democratic opponent, incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur, for not supporting it.

“Democrats like Marcy Kaptur would rather raise taxes on the working class and keep illegals on Medicaid than just give President Trump a win on the One Big Beautiful Bill,” he wrote on X shortly after the bill was passed.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office disagrees with Williams’ analysis. It reported on Aug. 11 that the poorest 10% of Americans will lose about $1,200 a year under the law, while the wealthiest 10% will gain roughly $13,600 a year.

An estimated 13.7 million Americans will lose health insurance under the law—none of them undocumented.

“Josh Williams admits that his priority is giving tax cuts to the richest Americans,” said DCCC spokesperson Katie Smith. “Williams puts billionaires and special interests before middle-class Ohio families, which is why Ohioans can’t trust him to work for them.”

Both Democrats and Republicans see OH-09 as competitive in 2026.