Ohio GOP Senate hopeful: Middle class doesn’t pay fair share

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mike Gibbons, a leading Republican Senate candidate from Ohio, said at a media event last fall that middle-class Americans don’t pay “any kind of a fair share” of income taxes. Gibbons made the comments in an episode of “The Landscape” podcast by Crain’s Cleveland Business in September. He says with “45% to 50%” of Americans not paying any income tax, “you can see the middle class is not really paying any kind of a fair share.” The comments could take on new resonance after Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida introduced a plan to have all Americans pay federal income taxes. Gibbons’ campaign said Friday that he does not support raising taxes on individuals or businesses.