Americans for Tax Reform calls on Congressional candidate Jay Old to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge in his bid for the GOP nomination in Texas’ 14th Congressional District.  To date, fellow Republican primary candidates Randy Weber, Michael Truncale, Felicia Harris, Mark Mansius, and Robert Gonzalez have all taken the Pledge.  The Old campaign confirmed Tuesday that Mr. Old will not make the promise to not raise taxes to the people of Texas’ 14th District.

Regarding the Pledge, Old’s campaign manager said that the campaign will not get around to signing it. Despite the campaign’s rigorous schedule, voters of the 14th District deserve answers. Voters are entitled to know whether Jay Old will join the rest of the Republican candidates in the district in opposing higher taxes.

Currently, 98% of Republicans in Congress have signed the Pledge. This includes the entire Texas GOP Congressional delegation. By refusing to sign the Pledge, if Jay Old were elected, the taxpayers of Texas’ 14th Congressional District would no longer have an ally in Washington, D.C.

 “The voters in Texas have a right to know where a candidate stands on the issues before electing them to Congress,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “It’s only logical to assume that if he won’t sign the Pledge then he has plans to raise taxes.”

 “I applaud candidates Weber, Truncale, Harris, Mansius, and Gonzalez for their dedication to the taxpayers of Texas,” continued Norquist. “Taxpayers deserve to know that the politicians they elect to office will stand on their side against the special interests and tax hikes in Washington. I urge Jay Old to join with these candidates in promising never to raise taxes on the voters of Texas.”

[PDF of Press Release]

Posted by Paul Blair on Friday, May 25, 2012 4:35 PM EDT

To follow Paul Blair's RSS feed click here. To follow them on Twitter, their handle is @gopaulblair