ROOKE: Gas Prices Rise As Top Midterm Issue. Still, California Provides Ultimate Reminder Of Cost Of Blue Governance

The midterm elections will be a referendum on gas prices, putting the target squarely on Republicans’ backs. Still, there’s something voters might be forgetting.

The latest Fox News poll found 61 percent of voters calling gas prices a major household problem, up from 48 percent two years ago. A plurality of voters say that pump prices will affect how they vote in November. Farmers, truckers, and anyone who commutes over a mile know the price of gas without looking it up. With average national regular gasoline prices near $4.47 a gallon and diesel even worse, Republicans will most likely pay for it in a midterm.

As this reality has become clearer, even the White House is seeking a way to address the problem. After several Republicans suggested a diesel export ban, the Trump administration appears primed to announce a 90-day total diesel export ban to force prices down. This would mark the first time in U.S. history that an administration would make such a move. It is further proof of just how important the price at the pump is for Republicans to stay in power.

I hope WH doesnt listen 2 Big Oil who claim diesel export ban wont work Big Oil doesnt need 2 charge sky-high diesel prices 4 Iowa farmers + truckers just filling up They shld cut price 4 US diesel&get the $$ frm other countries IF U CAN EMBARGO CHIPS U CAN EMBARGO DIESEL

There is an argument that some in the Republican Party hope Democrats take back control of Congress. They can hide behind their minority status to cover up their disdain for the America First agenda. Every attempt to hit Trump or hurt the movement will pass in a Democrat-controlled Congress, while Republicans complain about it on TV and champion it behind closed doors. It seems obvious to anyone who’s watching. And while Republicans are to blame for the high gas prices, there is a better way to punish them for betraying Americans’ 2024 votes: force them back into the majority. Don’t let them get away with throwing the midterms.

Voters should remember that while Republicans can be bullied into better governance, with Democrats there is no hope. California is the best example of this reality. No matter how expensive gasoline becomes in the U.S., California will almost always be more expensive. It’s quite literally written into state law. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)

AAA put California regular gasoline at $6.19 a gallon, making it about $1.71 above the national average. California diesel was $8.44 a gallon. This is because California state law requires a permanent surcharge on gasoline and diesel due to the California Air Resources Board’s unique gasoline specification called California Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (CARBOB). It is not the federal reformulated gasoline that is sold in New York and Texas. CARBOB is California’s green-energy concoction with tight limits on sulfur, benzene, aromatics, olefins, vapor pressure, and smog-forming exhaust. Estimates of the extra manufacturing cost typically run 10 to 30 cents a gallon before anyone talks about taxes. Because almost no one outside California makes this fuel regularly, a handful of in-state refineries control the market, which means they also control the prices. And God forbid one of the refineries goes down.

On top of this, California adds a tax that would look aggressive even if their fuel were cheap to produce. The Tax Foundation’s 2026 compilation ranks California first in the country at 73.6 cents a gallon in state fuel taxes and fees. This doesn’t include the state and local sales taxes, underground storage tank fees, and other add-ons that drive up prices.

Cheap-gas states, run by Republicans, live in a different universe. If voters want to know what life will be like with Democrats in control of federal gas taxes, their clearest preview is California.

Democrats can’t force Texas or Oklahoma to adopt California’s system. But they can force the federal government toward tighter fuel standards, carbon pricing, and more. If Americans thought gasoline prices were bad now, just wait until Democrats make $4.47 seem affordable.

Republicans’ war in Iran does well to explain Americans’ pain at the pump. However, Democrats cannot explain why California’s gasoline prices are almost $2 higher than the national average. And California is not alone on this island. The West Coast Democratic governments of Washington and Oregon are happily inflating their gasoline prices with similar clean-fuel programs.

Voters who are furious at the $4.47 price for gas have a right to notice and demand change, but it would be counterintuitive to the mission to give Democrats enough power to nationalize the West Coast model.

There is no "burning it down." Establishment Republicans want to lose the midterms. Then they can push for "bipartisan" amnesty. Sometimes I wonder how old some of you people are. Talking like children.

Allowing Republicans to lose the midterms because they don’t deserve power seems like a good option until reality sets in. The only real punishment for their inability to govern is to force them back into the majority. It is time Americans bully Republicans into submission.

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