NEW TAX LAW PROVISION HAS GOP ON ITS HEELS

be a party of pro-growth ideas, confidence and optimism,” said New Jersey Assemblyman Jay Webber, a Republican seeking a seat made available by a retiring Republican.

But he made clear that the limit on the SALT deduction was “a bad part in an otherwise good bill. I think it’s unfair to tax a tax, which is essentially what not allowing you to deduct your state and local taxes is.”

In tight races in affluent suburbs that will help decide control of the House, some Republicans are frustrated that Democrats have been given a stronger hand, especially since the bill passed by the House has little chance of success in the Senate. To pass, the bill would need the support of 60 senators, a remote possibility given that Republicans have a bare majority.

“As Republicans, generally tax cuts are the one thing we can all agree on,” said Mike Duhaime, a Republican strategist in New Jersey. “I think the leadership in Washington has been misguided on this in terms of having this approach that hurts certain states — New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland. You have a lot of representatives in these states that are hurt by this.”

Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University in New Jersey, said the decision to hold the vote “tied the hands” of some Republican candidates.

“This is kind of the politics of both class and geography playing out in these competitive districts. It’s a battle for who is the Republican Party,” Harrison said. “Is it the Republican Party relatively in the Midwest and the South not burdened by high property taxes, or is it some of these more affluent northeastern states and California?”

Democrats have wasted no time seizing the opportunity.

In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, who is competing against Webber for the seat in the northern suburbs, took to social media and sent emails announcing that “Washington Republicans are seeking to punish New Jersey taxpayers.”

Tom Malinowski, a Democrat who is challenging Republican Rep. Leonard Lance in the western part of New Jersey, weaves the tax issue into nearly every speech.

“Their top priority right now,” Malinowski said of the Republicans at a campaign stop where he was endorsed by the Amalgamated Transit Union, “is making the tax reform bill that they passed last year permanent. That’s their priority. None of them are talking about an infrastructure bill.”

In New York, Democrats looking to unseat the four House Republicans who supported the bill have renewed their criticism.

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, who is running against Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney, has accused Tenney on Twitter of hoping that the tax effort would “fly under the radar.”

Katie Hill, the Democrat challenging Rep. Steve Knight in California, accused Knight of prioritizing the interests of leadership and donors rather than his constituents by voting “to cap deductions and raise our taxes.”

Republican lawmakers have acknowledged the harm the SALT cap inflicts on their constituents.

Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., supported the tax overhaul but told The Syracuse Post-standard that he had played an “instrumental” role in preserving the $10,000 SALT deduction.

At the New Jersey state Democratic Convention in Atlantic City last month, nearly every speaker, from Sen. Robert Menendez to Josh Welle, who is challenging Rep. Chris Smith in a conservative district, railed against making the tax overhaul permanent.

They cited a study by Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat, that calculated the average state and local tax deduction in every county and found that 20 of the state’s 21 counties have an average deduction of more than $10,000. The study was based on recent data from the IRS.

In Malinowski’s suburban New Jersey district, a recent Monmouth University poll found that just 34 percent of voters approved of the tax plan, while 49 percent disapproved. Nearly half said they expected their federal tax bill to increase under the new rules.

In Sherill’s district, one-third of the voters polled said the tax plan would be a major factor in their vote.

Some Republicans who supported the effort to cut taxes for businesses and individuals have tried to cast themselves in a positive light by saying that they helped salvage even a limited deduction for local taxes.

Rep. Tom Macarthur, the lone New Jersey Republican who voted for the tax bill, boasts that he voted to lower taxes and that he saved the SALT deduction.

“The state and local tax deduction was slated to be zero, but I successfully preserved the deduction,” he said in a statement.

While Macarthur is in a tight contest against Andy Kim, a Democrat, that race has focused more on health care since Macarthur wrote the amendment to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Lance, the Republican incumbent facing Malinowski, was an early critic of the tax bill and called the effort to make it permanent an “exercise in futility.”

And Lance has many voters in his district who are unhappy about the tax bill.

Deirdre Gelinne, 58, who lives in Westfield, said she did not know the House voted to make the tax changes permanent until she heard Malinowski talk about it.

“People were not happy, and they’re not going to be happy about it being made permanent,” Gelinne said. “I didn’t realize they were trying to do it now. That is surprising to me, unless they’re trying to play to their base somewhere else that thinks this is great. I don’t think most people think it’s great, especially here.”