Mark Marran, an operations manager for a Fortune 500 company, voted for Donald Trump. Two weeks ago he noticed an extra $100 in his bimonthly pay check, courtesy of sweeping tax cuts passed by the Republican Congress late last year.
Marran says the extra cash is nice, but it will not change his life.
"A lot of people around here think (the tax cuts) were a giveaway to the rich," said Marran, 56, a resident of this city of 14,000 about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh.
Just up the street, George Smith, an optician who makes $55,000 a year, echoed that sentiment. Taking a pull from a cigarette, the Trump voter said he is now getting an extra $120 a month in his paycheck. But he says it is the wealthy who really scored.
“It’s almost like being thrown a bone," said Smith, 59.
These are worrying words for the GOP, which is banking on the tax cuts pushed by President Trump to help Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in midterm elections this November.
A crucial early test is set for March 13 here in western Pennsylvania. Republican candidate Rick Saccone, a conservative Trump loyalist, is vying to win a special election for a congressional seat in a district that the president won by 19 points in 2016.
Yet recent polls show a tightening race in Pennsylvania's 18th district, where Republicans typically enjoy a double-digit advantage.
Political analysts point to a number of factors fueling a competitive race, including Trump's low approval ratings and heightened Democratic enthusiasm. Democratic challenger Conor Lamb, a retired Marine and former federal prosecutor, is running as a moderate in a district where liberals are viewed with suspicion.
Saccone, meanwhile, has been touting Trump's signature legislative achievement as a boon for the middle class. "Tax cuts are changing lives," says one of Saccone's TV spots. But it remains to be seen whether the four-term state representative can persuade tax-cut skeptics such as Marran and Smith.