Taxes

Tax Cuts Won and Lost in the Midterms

Voters punished Republicans at the polls, but their appetite for lower taxes proved more complicated at ballot initiatives.

Reem Ibrahim | 11.5.2026 1:54 PM

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Republicans received a thumping defeat in the midterm elections. As voters overwhelmingly rejected GOP candidates, they didn't outright repudiate tax policies that have historically been championed by Republicans. While some states passed ballot initiatives to raise taxes, there were several wins for fans of low taxes. Here are some of the notable outcomes from Election Day.

Low-Tax Wins

1. North Carolina

Voters in North Carolina approved changes to the state constitution that would cap personal and corporate income taxes at 3.5 percent. The measure, which passed with 61.2 percent of the vote, does not change North Carolina's taxes for now, but it does make it nearly impossible for the Legislature to raise taxes in the future. The state's 2027 personal income tax rate is now expected to drop to 3.49 percent, below the new cap. Meanwhile, its corporate income tax rate stands at just 2 percent, following the passage of a 2021 law that will eliminate the tax by 2030.

Voters in the Tar Heel State also approved a constitutional amendment requiring the state Legislature to impose limits on how much local governments can increase their property tax collections. However, unlike the income tax amendment, this measure does not specify what the tax limits should be. Instead, it allows lawmakers to determine how restrictive those limits should be and whether any exemptions should apply. With property taxes accounting for more than one-third of local government funding in North Carolina, those limitations are unlikely to be drastic. Still,........

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