Rick Russman of Kingston, New Hampshire, spent five decades as a Republican. This year, with heating oil above $6 a gallon and winter approaching, the 80-year-old plans to vote for Democrat Chris Pappas in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country — and to heat his home partly with a wood stove.
An oil furnace in a home basement. Photo: Martin Cathrae, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
"Fuel that costs more than $6 a gallon is a huge expense," Russman told Reuters. His frustration captures a problem building for Republicans in the northern states that depend most on heating oil — Maine, New Hampshire and Alaska — all of which have competitive Senate races on November 3 that could decide control of Congress.
Prices at record levels
Heating oil prices have climbed above $6 per gallon nationally, up from about $3.50 a gallon a year ago, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Diesel, a similar fuel, hit a record high above $6.50 a gallon after President Donald Trump's war with Iran disrupted global supplies — driving up not just heating bills but the cost of groceries and consumer staples that move by truck.
Democratic candidates have tied the higher costs directly to the Iran war. In New Hampshire, where 43% of residents heat with oil, Pappas — who is challenging Republican John Sununu — said: "Energy costs and heating oil prices are the beginning and end of every conversation I'm having on the campaign trail." Sununu's campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Maine's 'double whammy' and Alaska's $10 fuel
In Maine, where 54% of homes use heating oil, the issue runs through the race between Republican Senator Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. Fishermen and farmers who burn diesel in their boats and equipment while heating their homes with oil face what University of Maine political scientist Mark Brewer called a "double whammy." Collins notes she has voted several times to end the war and pushed to speed federal heating assistance to Maine. Still, some voters are unpersuaded: South Thomaston lobsterman Dave Cousens, who plans to vote for Jackson, said of Trump: "He picked a fight with the wrong country, and we're all paying for it."
In Alaska, where roughly 30% of residents rely on heating oil, fuel in the Yukon River community of St. Mary's has reached about $10 a gallon, its mayor said — about $2 more than last year. Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, facing Democrat Mary Peltola, has backed a temporary pause on American diesel exports, while Peltola's campaign says the Iran war has driven up heating fuel, gasoline and grocery costs across the state.
The White House response
Asked about the criticism, the White House pointed to the Energy Department's release of heating oil from reserves in the Northeast this week — a move one analyst said was unlikely to affect prices. Republican strategist Lance Dutson of Maine was blunter about the politics: "The party in power is held responsible for things like that, and it's so clearly Trump's fault because of this Iran war." An October Reuters/Ipsos poll found nearly 80% of Americans blame Trump's policies for higher costs, including energy.
With control of the Senate on the line, what voters pay to stay warm this winter may help decide who runs Congress next year.
Sources: Reuters; US Energy Information Administration figures via Reuters.