Gas prices are up, way up − $4.86 a gallon on average in Michigan for regular on May 3, according to AAA, and that’s the sort of economic, inflationary development that can turn heads.
And we’re talking politically, not just for people driving around looking for a station whose prices might be a couple of cents cheaper. (Though there are plenty of folks doing that as well.)
The spike in gas prices − regular’s up from $3.90 a month ago and from $3.25 a year ago (and did we mention, Memorial Day weekend is three weeks away) − since President Donald Trump took the nation into war with Iran in February has driven his approval numbers to second-term lows and buoyed the hopes Democrats have of retaking control of one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. (Trump also campaigned on lower gas prices specifically as a way to temper inflation.)
“What we’re seeing is a lot of discontent,” said Corwin Smidt, associate political science professor and interim director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research at Michigan State University, which did a 1,000-respondent YouGov survey in the state in March that found 21% of people listing the economy and inflation as their top worry and households in the doldrums dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic.
And Smidt’s isn’t the only survey showing that. The Glengariff Group of Lansing, in polls for the Detroit Regional Chamber, asked likely Democratic and Republican primary voters their top worries in April: In both cases, categories encompassing the economy, jobs, gas prices and inflation ranged from 25% for Republicans to 38% for Democrats. “Everybody seems to be sour on the economy,” said Smidt. “It’s clearly inflation-driven.”
With this backdrop, the politics team at the Free Press set out to talk to some consumers and see who or what, if anything, they blame for the high prices and what impact, if any, inflation might have on their voting decisions.
People ‘tricked and fooled’
DeLano Calhoun, of Detroit, had gotten used to paying $50 or $60 for a full tank of gas for his GMC Envoy, but as gas prices push $5 a gallon, he said it’s closer to $80 or $90 now.
He didn’t vote for Trump but thinks some people got “tricked and fooled” into doing so. He blames the war in Iran for the higher prices.
“When you create war and you stop the petroleum and gasoline from coming into the country, then that’s a problem. And it trickles down and it affects us,” Calhoun said. (As a note, the United States imports less petroleum from the Middle East than some countries but oil gluts and shortages affect prices globally.)
Calhoun said he knows people who have given up some driving for now, riding motorized bikes to work or taking the bus.
‘We’re suffering for it’
Lynn Collins, of Southfield, said she usually gets half a tank for $20. On May 1, she paid her $20 and watched the pump provide only about a quarter of a tank, instead.
She sees the war in Iran as driving prices but admits she’s not entirely sure what’s driving Trump’s actions.
“We’re not in his shoes, so we don’t really know what is taking place or why he’s fighting so hard for whatever it is that he’s fighting for, but we are suffering for it,” she said. (Trump has said the short term impact is worth keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and that prices will “plummet” when the fighting ends.)
Asked if, going into the November elections this year, she thinks either Republican or Democratic candidates could bring prices back down, she said, “I would hope so. Democrats, Republicans, whichever. Somebody, please.” For her, prices decreasing by $1 per gallon would be meaningful relief.
Everything ‘chaotic’ now
Ryan Bell of Beverly Hills − who was paying $4.98 a gallon to fill his tank at a Lansing Speedway station on May 1 − said he blames the war in Iran and “some of the decisions that are being made at the top level of the government” for soaring prices.
“Everything seems to be chaotic nowadays,” said Bell, who works in advertising.
Bell said unlike some, he can’t easily limit how much he drives and so far he is simply absorbing the higher prices. As for the November election, he said gas prices won’t affect his vote: He votes Democratic, and that won’t change, he said.
But Bell said the high prices are stimulating his interest in one day owning an electric vehicle.
“I’ve rented them a couple of times,” Bell said, but finding charging stations has always been a concern on longer trips. “I haven’t made that jump, but yes, I definitely would consider it.” (The Trump administration has rolled back subsidies for EV purchases and proposed changing mileage standards in a way expected to spur sales of gasoline-powered vehicles, not EVs.)
‘A horrible attack’
Lea Rivera, of Grand Rapids, guessed it would take around $80 to fill up the tank of her SUV. But on Friday, May 1, she put a self-imposed cap on her outlay at $20 at a Meijer gas station on the west side of Grand Rapids, as she tried to avoid the brunt of increased fuel costs.
Rivera said she’s avoided trips to the east side of Michigan to see her family since prices began to rise. Beyond that, she’s even cut down on weekend activities. At one point, she found it cheaper to use a grocery delivery app than drive to the store herself.
“I try not to drive a lot,” she said.
Rivera said she usually votes, and while she didn’t align herself with either major political party, she said she wasn’t a fan of Trump’s policies and believes the federal government is to blame for gas prices currently.
“This feels like a horrible attack on everybody,” she said, of fuel prices. The cost of gas is going to be on her mind come election time, she added.
“I think that’s the biggest thing that affects living right now.”
‘Listen to the people’
Jocelyn Millender of Grand Blanc spent nearly $5 a gallon to fill her tank in Lansing May 1. It’s too much, she said.
Millender, a wife, mom and executive director of a nonprofit organization that works with women and children, said her job and family duties don’t allow her to easily reduce the number of miles she drives.
“The things that are happening in the world with our government directly correlate with what’s happening with gas,” Millender said.
She said high gas prices will impact her vote in November, but wouldn’t say exactly how.
“I think they both are to blame,” Millender said of the two major political parties. “I think they both should listen to their constituents. They should listen to the people who they’ve been elected to work for.” (Smidt, from Michigan State, said trust in government remains low and there has been a slight uptick in the number of Michiganders identifying as independents, relative to the other parties.)
Millender said she has never considered purchasing an electric vehicle, even with the dramatically higher fuel prices.
Cutting down on ‘unnecessary trips’
Tyler Lenn, an exercise science major at Grand Valley State University, said he is feeling a bit of pressure from higher gas prices on his commute to campus from the nearby Jenison area, but is mostly just cutting down on “unnecessary trips” to save on gas.
He put $40 into his Jeep Grand Cherokee at a Meijer gas station Friday, May 1, in Walker, a suburb of Grand Rapids.
Lenn said he doesn’t blame any individual for the situation with fuel costs, and said worldwide conflicts − presumably like the one between the United States and Iran − are inevitable “based on the decisions that have been made in the past couple of years.”
He suggested it won’t affect his vote in November.
“I don’t really feel that who I vote for has a direct impact on what’s happening,” Lenn said.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Gas prices could fuel voter anger. We talk to Michiganders
Reporting by Todd Spangler, Paul Egan, Arpan Lobo and Emily Lawler, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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