Dems aim for 2018 midterm boost from Trump tax plan fallout

ATLANTA— While Republicans celebrate a tax overhaul they say will goose the economy and increase workers’ take-home pay, Democrats are aiming to turn the tax law into a cudgel in next year’s fight totake control of Congress.

Democrats hope to use the tax plan, passed without a single Democratic vote, to stake their ground as the party of working class America.

“It’s all a consistent message: This is not what you were promised,” says Chrissy Houlahan, a Democratic candidate in the suburban Philadelphia district of Republican Rep. Ryan Costello, who voted forthe tax plan.

Republicans acknowledge dismal polling for their approach but count on a turnaround in public opinion as tax cuts for many take effect.

Suburban Democrats like Ms. Houlahan particularly object to a new cap on deductions for state and local taxes, along with limits on mortgage interest deductions. One provision limits a household to a maximum deduction of $10,000 in state and local taxes, including property levies. Interest calculated on mortgage debt beyond $750,000 also would not be deductible, down from the current$1 million cap.

Those changes fall disproportionately on the nation’s largest metro areas, where median incomes are often much higher than the national benchmark but where residents also have considerably higher housing costs and local tax burdens. Such House districts feature prominently on Democrats’ target list in 2018.