The Scoop: There is no question whatsoever that gas price inflation has rocked the nation. Prices are high everywhere, and while Biden’s ban on Russian energy sends a message to Russia, it obviously will make prices higher. So how will this affect the midterms? Let’s find out.
The Trends: Gas prices are affecting some areas more than others. In fact, the highest gas price average in the nation is in California, with a whopping $5.44 per gallon. The rest of the west coast (plus Nevada) follow close behind with gas prices higher than $4.50. After these come states on the other side of the country including Illinois, New York, and Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. All of these states have gas prices over $4.30. States with gas prices over $4.16 include every north eastern state, Arizona and Michigan. Do you notice anything about these States? All of them are safe blue states (or swing states that voted for Biden). When you go lower and lower, you see that more and more red states pop up. The state with the lowest gas price is Oklahoma (a state that voted for Trump by more than 30 points), with $3.72 per gallon.
The Conclusion: As you can see, Blue States have to deal with the highest gas prices. The reason for this is because of high gas taxes. For example, on average, California drivers pay 87 cents per gallon. This means that the actual price of gas is $4.57 (still a pretty high price.) The crazy thing is that California’s tax per gallon is actually the highest in the nation, well over the national average of $59.07 cents. The reason that California (and generally blue states as a whole) has such a high tax is because the state government is trying to combat global warming by requiring a special gas blend that limits pollution. This blend is not cheap and not easy to find, so the government charges extra in taxes. In conclusion, rising gas prices will not be good for the Democrats during the midterms.