Byrne signs no new taxes pledge

Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), a candidate for U.S. Senate, announced in a press release on Monday that he is signing The Americans for Tax Reform Taxpayers Protection Pledge.

The pledge amounts to a public promise that a candidate will never support a net tax increase on the American people while in office.

Byrne is the first of the Alabama senate candidates to sign the pledge this cycle. State Rep. Arnold Mooney (R- Indian Springs), also a candidate for Senate, signed the pledge during his run for the statehouse seat he currently occupies.

“Signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge was a no-brainer for me,” Byrne said in a statement to Yellowhammer. “Alabama deserves a Senator who will fight for lower taxes and more freedom, and that’s exactly what I promise to do.”

His 2020 Senate campaign is Byrne’s second time signing the pledge. His first was when he was running to represent AL-01 in 2013.

The majority of Republican elected officials at the federal level have signed the pledge, including all of Alabama’s current Republican congressional representatives.

According to Americans for Tax Reform’s website, there are currently 47 senators, 173 representatives and 11 governors who have signed the pledge.

Signing the pledge is something Byrne has in common with several of the men vying to be his successor in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District. State Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), former State Sen. Bill Hightower (R-Mobile) and County Commissioner Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) have all signed the pledge.

In the AL-2 race, only former Alabama AG Troy King has signed so far.

Navy veteran Chris Lewis (R-Florence), who is attempting to oust Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) in the AL-05 Republican primary, has joined his incumbent opponent in signing the pledge.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.