On Tax Day, Rep. James Lomax is trying to make the Republican primary feel less like a broad ideological fight and more like an accounting exercise—who voted to cut taxes, and who voted to raise them.
Lomax’s Tax Day push
“On Tax Day, the contrast couldn’t be clearer,” Lomax said. “I am proud to fight every single day to cut taxes and keep more money in the pockets of District 20 families. Mo Brooks has the opposite record; a long, documented history of voting YES to raise taxes over and over again.”
In the same release, Lomax’s campaign says his four years in office included support for more than $1.5 billion in tax reductions, including grocery tax cuts and income tax rebates.
Those figures are presented as the through-line of his pitch: not just that taxes got lowered, but that the reductions were substantive and targeted.
The tone is combative, and it doesn’t try to hide that.
In the background, you can almost picture the kind of paper-and-coffee morning routine that often comes with Tax Day politics—somebody printing the release out, the faint smell of toner in the air—while staffers line up the talking points for the next voter call.
Brooks’ Alabama House record becomes the battleground
Among the most significant, Misryoum notes, were two votes in 1984 supporting constitutional amendments that raised both the state income tax and corporate tax rates from 5 to 6 percent—changes estimated to cost Alabama taxpayers more than $100 million.
In the same year, Brooks also voted in favor of a gas tax increase projected to cost Alabamians approximately $43 million annually.
Lomax’s campaign argues that the record isn’t limited to one off-year or one controversial measure, but instead reflects a pattern that shows up across categories.
The release points to support for local tax measures including increases in sales, property, lodging, tobacco and fuel taxes, as well as various permit fees and assessments affecting multiple industries.
Brooks, in Lomax’s telling, didn’t just back one or two hikes.
“Mo Brooks didn’t just vote for one or two tax hikes, he voted for nearly every single one presented to him,” Lomax said.
“Mo Brooks voted to raise income taxes, corporate taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, hotel taxes, tobacco taxes, privilege taxes, and more.”
That volume and scope are now becoming a central contrast point in the race, especially given Brooks’ later political identity.
During his time in Congress, Brooks frequently emphasized opposition to tax increases and federal spending, a stance that—Misryoum analysis indicates—sits uneasily with portions of his earlier state legislative record.
As of now, Brooks has not publicly responded to Lomax’s latest release.
And that absence hangs there a bit, making the comparison feel one-sided—at least for the moment—though the campaign math will likely depend on whether Brooks addresses the voting history directly, or tries to reframe what it means.
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