TRENTON – The Democrats failed to restore the full deduction for state and local taxes. What’s more, crime is up and it’s their fault.

Five Republican House candidates convened Thursday morning outside the Statehouse to reinforce those main points less than three weeks before the election.

The assemblage included Bob Healey (CD-3), Frank Pallotta (CD-5), Sue Kiley (CD-6), Paul DeGroot (CD-11) and Darius Mayfield (CD-12).

Of that group, the three most competitive districts appear to be CD-3. CD-5 and CD-11.

Of course, the most competitive district in the state – and one that has garnered national attention – is CD-7. Thomas H. Kean Jr., the GOP candidate in that district, didn’t attend today’s event.

Pallotta, who has his sights on Josh Gottheimer, noted that every Democrat running for the House back in 2018, pledged to restore the full deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT.  It was capped at $10,000 with passage of the 2017 Trump tax package.

However, “New Jersey is no closer to SALT relief today than it was in 2017,” Pallotta said.

Healey, who is challenging Andy Kim, accused his opponent of not even trying. What he should have done, Healey said, was to use his leverage to secure bipartisan support for restoring the deduction. Healey mentioned Joe Manchin as an example of how the legislative game is played.

This is low hanging fruit for Republicans and it is understandable they are seizing upon it. Democrats pledged to fix things and they did not.

Then again, things are really not that simple.

The Democratic-controlled House did pass legislation to eliminate the cap, but it failed in the then-Republican Senate. Dems now control the Senate, albeit by one vote.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which passed by that one vote, did  not include eliminating the SALT cap. House Dems from New Jersey voted for it anyway, claiming the overall benefits of the bill, namely lowering drug prices and fighting climate change were too important to oppose.

That has fueled GOP criticism.

A larger and very relevant point is how would the five Republicans gathered on this chilly morning get the cap eliminated.

Pallotta was asked if he would withhold support for Kevin McCarthy, the presumed speaker-to-be, unless he pledges to restore the full deduction. He dismissed that question as getting ahead of the game.

The reality is that Republicans in both houses have shown no inclination to help New Jersey and similar states (think New York and California) that have high property taxes.

The GOP candidates expressed optimism that hard work and negotiations can change that. That remains to be seen.

Crime is another big issue. It has spiked since the pandemic and virtually all Republicans are using it to criticize Democrats.

DeGroot, a former assistant prosecutor in Passaic County, took the lead on this issue, saying bail reform needs to be looked at.

This issue – again – is not simple. As was pointed out during a question and answer session after the press conference, crime is up nationally and only a few states reformed bail laws. Moreover, the New Jersey version of bail reform was a bipartisan endeavor engineered by Republican Chris Christie. Of course, nuances don’t usually come up at partisan gatherings and the Republicans were not going to criticize Christie.

Democrats are not totally ignoring the crime problem.

Mikie Sherrill – DeGroot’s opponent – convened a bipartisan press event on Monday to highlight federal legislation she’s introduced to combat auto thefts through a grant program for law enforcement agencies.

DeGroot was not impressed, saying:

“She’s late to the game.”

It was Pallotta who summed up the day’s main message with a mixture of both optimism and anticipation.

“New Jersey’s political pendulum has begun to swing again to the right.”