President Donald Trump recently made stops in Missouri and North Dakota to push his tax reform plan. It is no coincidence that both those states are ones he won in 2016 with vulnerable Democratic incumbent senators up for reelection in 2018. There is also broad support for tax reform in these and several other states with incumbent Democrats, according to a recent poll by Definers Public Affairs and WPA.
In West Virginia, which Mr. Trump won by 42.1 points, 77.3% of voters support his tax reform plan. Seventy-five percent of voters support the plan in Montana; 72.8% in North Dakota; 72.5% in Missouri; 68.8% in Wisconsin; 68.4% in Indiana; 67.2% in Ohio; 63.1% in Florida; 62.6% in Michigan; and 56.6% in Pennsylvania. Mr. Trump won these states by +20.6, +36.4, +18.7, +0.8; +19.3, +8.1, +1.2, +0.2, and +0.7 points, respectively.
Mr. Trump is smart to visit these states to drum up support and pressure vulnerable Democrats to support his tax plan. Democratic senators unwilling to compromise make their reelections that much more difficult. At a recent stop in Missouri, Mr. Trump told rally attendees that if Senator Claire McCaskill, a regular Trump antagonist, did not support tax reform, they should “vote her out.” In North Dakota, however, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who has been more willing to work with Mr. Trump, enjoyed a ride on Air Force One. The president has referred to her as a “good woman” who would likely support tax reform. If other Democratic senators up in red states in 2018 were smart, they would follow Ms. Heitkamp’s lead.
