Gas prices rise again, putting Republicans on the defensive in Michigan

Voters usually treat gas prices as partisan only when the other side is in power, and Michigan is showing how quickly that script can flip. In Tom Barrett’s Lansing-area district, one of the country’s most competitive House seats, Republicans who once turned pain at the pump into a political weapon are now explaining the same pain to voters as prices climb again.

Barrett won Michigan’s 7th Congressional District on Nov. 5, 2024, defeating Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr. He had built part of his campaign around fuel costs, filming himself at a Michigan gas station in August 2023 and saying, “Gas in Michigan is four bucks a gallon,” then promising, “When I’m elected to Congress, we’ll produce our own energy. We’ll get gas under control so that this will be a lot more affordable for families like yours and families like mine.” Now the state average is back near the level that made that message resonate.

AAA said Michigan’s average regular gasoline price stood at $3.781 a gallon on April 22, after hitting a 2026 high of $4.08 on April 8 and falling to $3.83 on April 20. The national average was $4.020 on April 22. Those numbers are well above last year’s Michigan average of $3.112, and they have revived a familiar political problem for Republicans heading toward the 2026 midterms.

Barrett told Reuters that gas costs were affecting people’s livelihoods and that he was not dismissing the pain. He also argued that prices might not be the same by Election Day and said the conflict behind the surge was justified on national security grounds. Still, the message is harder to sell when the latest spike has wiped away the easy edge Republicans enjoyed during the Biden years.

The broader pressure comes from the world oil market, not just Michigan politics. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Brent crude averaged $103 a barrel in March, climbed to almost $128 on April 2, and helped push U.S. average retail gasoline prices to nearly $4.30 a gallon in April. The agency linked the jump to Middle East supply disruptions and the closure of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, with prices expected to stay elevated if those disruptions continue.

Even Republicans at the top of the party are conceding the problem may last. Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright have acknowledged that gasoline could remain expensive through November. For a party trying to hold the House and maybe the Senate, that is a dangerous admission in a battleground state like Michigan, where a few thousand votes can decide who controls Congress.