House Republican leaders are kicking off their summer campaign blitz warning voters about how Democrats’ policies will increase their taxes instead of touting their own signature tax cut bill.
The strategy highlights the difficulties GOP lawmakers face when it comes to voters feeling the economic benefits of their policies.
“What’s really important as relates to the tax code is to contrast what we’ve done to help make life more affordable for families and put more money in their pocket versus what the Democrats would do,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) told reporters on Thursday ahead of a weekslong summer recess.
Republicans passed a party-line package to extend and make permanent President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Since then, they have struggled to make the marquee legislation an effective pitch to voters as they look to retain their slim majority.
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“Do we communicate our ideas great all the time? That’s been a fault of the Republican Party,” Scalise acknowledged.
Instead, Republicans are highlighting the far-left insurgence within the Democratic Party, often referring to Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates as “communists.” And in many cases working to paint the entire party as extreme leftist.
This approach differs from what some members competing in purple districts say they’d prefer to emphasize, even as top leaders fan out to those contests this summer.
“We’ll focus exclusively on the issues that matter to people, from affordability and the cost of living, and what we’ve done on taxes and housing. Obviously, energy costs, and not just gas, but utilities,” Rep. Mike Lawler, (R-New York), who represents a district Kamala Harris won in 2024, told NOTUS.
Lawler faces Cait Conley, a military veteran who Democrats note is running slightly ahead of Lawler in polling.
Republicans have seized on recent primaries in New York City where voters voted for Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a handful of democratic socialist who beat out Democrats who were viewed as establishment candidates.
Speaker Mike Johnson and Scalise have plans to visit New York state in August.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden, whose Wisconsin district became more competitive this cycle, according to Cook Political Report’s rating, said he’ll be traveling the district on his Harley talking about “gas, groceries and grandkids” and hopes leadership does the same.
Another Republican in a tight race, Pennsylvania Rep. John Bresnahan, said leaders should focus on affordability but also speak to issues important to northeast Pennsylvania such as eradicating an Obama-era storm water management fee levied on homeowners.
“Absolutely, we could talk about no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security,” Bresnahan said. “These are all incredible things that we could take back home.”
When asked if Democrats’ proposals should be part of their talking points, he indicated yes.
“He could certainly talk about some of the communism ideology that seems to be infiltrating the Democrat Party right now,” Bresnahan said about Scalise.
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Republicans of making them the scapegoat for rising living costs. They’re planning their own campaign pitch to voters starting this Sunday.
“The do nothing Republican Congress has been a complete and total disaster. Costs haven’t gone down. Costs have gone up. Gas prices are out of control. The war in Iran is spiraling, and they continue to try to divert blame onto us,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told NOTUS. “The American people aren’t buying it.”
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