Nearly 45 years after California, Tennessee, and other states began a movement against state taxes that would spread across the nation — and dominate politics for years — there are signs that a similar movement may be conceived in Wisconsin on Feb. 21.
That is the date of the primary to choose a Republican nominee for the seat of former State Sen. Alberta Darling, whose surprise resignation late last year kept fellow Republicans from the 22-seat super-majority. With 22 seats, Republicans would be able to override vetoes by Democrat Gov. Tony Evers.
Any of the three Republicans vying for the so-called WOW district (parts of Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties) would be better-than-even money to keep it in GOP hands.
But there is particular interest in the primary because of one contender, Van Mobley, and his unique agenda: abolishing the state income tax in the state that was first in the nation to enact an income tax back in 1911.
"I'm running because states that made the strategic decision to get rid of the income tax are not only attracting business but attracting residents as well," said Mobley, president of the Board of Trustees for the village of Thiensville and one of Donald Trump's earliest supporters in the Badger State.
Mobley added that "(Scottish economist) Adam Smith was absolutely right when he said that taxes should be on consumption" rather than incomes.
Continuing the income tax in Wisconsin, he warned, "would lead to greater domestic migration and we can't afford that."
Mobley's major primary opponents are State Assembly Members Dan Knodl and Janel Brandtjen. Both are considered conservative and, in fact, Brandtjen signed a controversial letter to Vice President Mike Pence after the 2020 election calling on him not to certify the electoral votes of Wisconsin because of alleged fraud.
In a story that made Page 1 of the New York Times, state Democrats have been running independent commercials urging a vote for the controversial Brandtjen — very likely based on the feeling she would be the easiest Republican a Democrat could beat.
For his part, Mobley dismisses discussion of any of that. Referring to his opponents in the primary, he said "they're fine people but they are both afraid to endorse abolishing the income tax. That's what I'm all about."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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