Heating Oil Above $6 a Gallon Pressures Republicans in New Hampshire, Maine and Alaska Senate Races
Heating oil now costs more than $6 a gallon nationally, up from about $3.50 a year ago, and Reuters interviews in three Senate battlegrounds show voters tying the bills to the war with Iran and to control of Congress on November 3.
Eighty-year-old Rick Russman of Kingston, New Hampshire, spent five decades as a Republican. This year, as his state braces for a winter of soaring heating oil costs, he will vote for Democrat Chris Pappas in one of the country’s most closely watched Senate races.
“Fuel that costs more than $6 a gallon is a huge expense,” Russman said. He said he will rely on a wood stove to help heat his home this winter rather than on heating oil alone.
Heating oil prices have climbed above $6 per gallon nationally, up from about $3.50 a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration. Diesel, which is similar to heating oil, has risen to a record high above $6.50 a gallon, Reuters reported, pushing up the cost of groceries and other consumer goods.
Democratic candidates have sought to tie the higher costs to President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, which they say has disrupted global diesel supplies. Reuters was first to report this week that the US Energy Department released heating oil from reserves in the Northeast. When asked about criticism that Trump’s policies have left Republicans exposed on heating costs, the White House pointed to that fuel release. Reuters reported that an analyst said the release was unlikely to affect prices.
Three states where heating bills are on the ballot
In New Hampshire, where 43% of residents use heating oil, Pappas said energy costs lead voter concerns as he challenges Republican John Sununu. “Energy costs and heating oil prices are the beginning and end of every conversation I’m having on the campaign trail,” Pappas said. Sununu’s campaign did not respond to several requests for comment, according to Reuters.
In Maine, where 54% of homes use heating oil, rising fuel costs have featured in the Maine Senate race between Republican incumbent Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. The costs run higher still for fishermen and farmers who use diesel to power their motors and warm homes with oil. “For them, it really is a double whammy,” said Mark Brewer, chair of the political science department at the University of Maine.
Collins said she initially supported the war and has since voted several times to bring it to an end. She pushed the US government to speed the release of $38 million for Maine from the $4 billion federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and urged Trump to tap the heating oil reserve. Maine lobsterman Dave Cousens of South Thomaston plans to vote for Jackson. Cousens blamed high energy costs on Trump’s Iran war and said he will be forced to forgo a Florida vacation. “He picked a fight with the wrong country, and we’re all paying for it,” he said.
In Alaska, where roughly 30% of residents rely on heating oil, the issue has surfaced in the Senate race between Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola, who has campaigned on lowering energy costs. In remote communities, fuel is often shipped long distances, and diesel also generates electricity and powers transportation, pushing up the cost of goods and services.
In the Yukon River community of St. Mary’s, Mayor Sven Paukan said heating fuel has risen to about $10 per gallon, roughly $2 more than last year. “It’s pretty difficult to heat homes nowadays,” Paukan said. Sullivan said he supports a “temporary pause of American diesel exports,” a policy Trump has considered. Sullivan has said he supports the war but that it should end soon, and this week he encouraged Alaska fishermen to apply for a new $8 billion Trump administration program to offset diesel costs for farmers.
What the polls show
Nearly 80% of Americans blame Trump policies for higher costs including energy, according to an October Reuters/Ipsos poll. The costs are a headwind for Republicans, said Lance Dutson, a Republican strategist in Maine. “The party in power is held responsible for things like that, and it’s so clearly Trump’s fault because of this Iran war,” Dutson said.
Suzanne Downing, former communications director for the Alaska Republican Party, said heating oil is a concern for Republicans in her state. “Many people in Fairbanks … pay more in the wintertime for their fuel bill than they do for their mortgage,” she said. “The Iran war is being blamed for this.”
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.
