Politics of desperation

Politics | Conservative governors take office pledging to cut both taxes and record deficits | Alisa Harris

Associated Press/Photo by Rich Schultz

TRENTON, N.J.—In 1993—just after new President Bill Clinton raised taxes and a year before Republicans swept Congress—New Jersey elected Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman on a wave of anti-tax sentiment. She immediately cut taxes by $122 million. Later that year, Republicans in South Carolina and Oklahoma won governorships with tax-cut promises. In Maryland, Republican Ellen Sauerbrey ran on a conservative fiscal agenda and lost by just 6,187 votes even though her Democratic opponent had a two-to-one edge in voter registration. Republicans took Congress and wrote tax cuts into their "Contract with America." Moderate Republican George Pataki (now a candidate for the U.S. Senate) won the New York governor's race after adjusting his message to one of lower taxes and shrinking spending.