Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) has been running on his record on the state and local tax deduction. His Democratic challenger turned that record against him at a candidate forum this week, causing audience laughter and a "sit down" order.
A clip of the exchange between Lawler and Democrat Cait Conley, who is running against him in New York’s 17th Congressional District, spread quickly online.
“Oh wow,” wrote the account TrumpsTaxes, whose video has drawn more than 117,000 views. “Mike Lawler got so rattled when Cait Conley accurately called him out on his SALT deduction lie that he tried to get up and leave before being told by the forum moderator to sit down and calm down. Oh, and the crowd laughed at him, too.”
Conley made her case on X.
“Trump created the SALT deduction cap in 2017 to punish New York,” she wrote. “It was set to expire ENTIRELY at the end of 2025, but Mike Lawler voted to make it a permanent tax on working families to fund tax breaks for billionaires.”
She added that the cap would drop back to $10,000 in 2030, “when Mike is running for his next office.”
“Trying to spin this as a win is an insult to the Hudson Valley,” she wrote. “We deserve better.”
Lawler fired back with his own post. He said he “fought to quadruple the SALT cap which let over 90% of Hudson Valley households deduct their state and local taxes.” He also accused Conley of wanting “to increase taxes on the American people by $4 trillion.”
“Cait Conley wants to go to Washington to raise your taxes, plain and simple,” he wrote.
