Greg Landsman, the five-year Democratic Cincinnati City councilman vying for Congress against Steve Chabot (R-OH-01), is running a television advertisement contending that he cut taxes while Chabot raised them.
The facts suggest otherwise.
The ad begins with an accusation that Chabot “raised taxes on working people” while “the middle class is being squeezed.” A footnote cites the congressman’s vote for the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. But that legislation actually reduced taxes for middle-income Americans on balance.
While the reform capped some deductions, it doubled the child tax credit and substantially reduced income taxes. An analysis by the D.C.-based Heritage Foundation determined that the law boosted the average yearly earnings of a nonsupervisory worker by $1,406.
Landsman, by contrast, actually did vote in favor of numerous tax hikes. Yet in his commercial, he only characterizes himself as a tax cutter.
“I’m Greg Landsman and I voted to cut property taxes five times,” he said. “I approve this message because we have to make it easier to raise a family. Let’s start by cutting taxes for the middle class.”
The councilman’s record on taxes makes his broader argument hard to sustain. In early 2018, he voted for a $7 million property tax increase. Several months later, he went on to support seven increases in other municipal taxes and fees. At the time, Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Jason Williams marveled at how a City Council majority could raise so many levies just one week after the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners increased the sales tax.
“In the face of budget deficits each around $30 million, neither City Hall nor Court Street seemed to do everything they possibly could to alleviate the burden on taxpayers,” Williams wrote. “Instead, they gave us Taxapalooza 2018.”
Chabot’s supporters anticipate Landsman would push for taxes to rise if he unseated the incumbent.
“Greg Landsman can try to erase his failed record, but voters won’t forget that while they were struggling to pay the bills, Landsman made it worse with multiple tax hikes,” Cally Perkins, press secretary for the Republican-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, said in a statement.
“Landsman would march full steam ahead to hike even more taxes in Congress, and Ohio families just can’t afford it.”
This July, the councilman drew national criticism for delinquency in paying $656 in business taxes and paying back a $16,647 Paycheck Protection Program loan.
In challenging Chabot, the Democrat walks a high-resistance path considering the congressman has served the region over 28 years, with one two-year gap after losing an election to Democrat Steve Driehaus in 2008. Moreover, data analysts expect GOP House incumbents won’t have much trouble staying in office given the unpopularity of President Joe Biden.
Landsman’s campaign did not return an email requesting comment.
But redistricting has put Chabot in a slightly chancier spot. The new 1st Congressional District to which he seeks re-election — encompassing all of Cincinnati, many Hamilton County suburbs and all of Warren County — backed Biden against Donald Trump by 8.5 percent in 2020. Campaign trackers generally consider the race a toss-up.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Ohio Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Greg Landsman” by Greg Landsman.
“The facts suggest otherwise.”
Facts do not “suggest”. They are conclusive.