By Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir
LAS VEGAS/RENO, Nevada (Reuters) – Two decades into her work as a unionized bartender in Reno, Nevada, Kristie Strejc has the comfort of job stability, her pick of the best shifts, and, unlike many in the hospitality industry, enough income that she’d actually benefit from plans floated by both U.S. presidential candidates to exempt tips from federal income tax.
But that isn’t influencing a vote she said is solidly for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate who has the endorsement of Nevada’s powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and in recent polls is leading former President Donald Trump, the Republican challenger, in this battleground state.
“I’m kind of at a point where I could either go on ‘this’ vacation or buy ‘this’ for the house … I could probably do a little more of both if I had that money in my pocket,” she said when asked in an interview last month about the prospect of a tipped-income exemption. “That’d be a bonus, but I’m not going to vote because of one thing.”