Trailing in the polls and unpopular with voters, Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett is turning to the oldest trick in the GOP book to try to stop Democratic challenger Tom Wolf.
In a new Halloween-themed ad, Corbett’s campaign accuses Wolf of trying to dramatically raise Pennsylvanians’ taxes.
The 30-second spot begins with a masked chainsaw-wielding man chasing screaming people.
“You think this is scary? Have you seen Tom Wolf’s plan for raising the state income tax?” the man asks, before citing a study from a free-market state think tank that found that Wolf’s tax plan would more than double income taxes paid by some middle class families.
In an op-ed published Friday on PennLive, Corbett defended his record as governor in cutting the budget, increasing education funding, and promoting energy production in the state.
Wolf, Corbett warns, has a “very different vision for Pennsylvania. He wants to increase taxes on hardworking Pennsylvanians, expand the size and scope of state government, does not support reducing the size of the legislature or reforms that would restore a part-time legislature or a biennial budget.”
Wolf, a 65-year-old businessman, maintains a significant lead in the polls, as Corbett remains highly unpopular in the state. Only 38 percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of him, and 49 percent view him unfavorably, according to the most recent Quinnipiac poll.
Those numbers have improved in recent weeks, and Corbett’s campaign claimed Saturday that internal polling puts him within a few digits of Wolf. “The internal polling [is] where I feel comfortable, a week plus out. We’re going to win this,” Corbett told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4.
Hitting Wolf on taxes has been a key component of Corbett’s last-minute push, although it is far from clear that it will be enough to secure victory.
Wolf has proposed replacing Pennsylvania’s flat income tax rate with a progressive system by raising the income tax rate and then including an exemption for households under a certain threshold of income. Wolf has said that the plan would cut taxes for individuals making $70,000 to $90,000, and for couples with incomes twice that high.
Corbett’s criticism, taken from a Commonwealth Foundation analysis of Wolf’s plan, is that Wolf would have to roughly double the income tax rate to pay for his proposed spending, significantly raising taxes on some businesses and families.
