President Trump is using gas and energy prices as a final campaign pitch for Republican candidates on Election Day on Tuesday.
“If affordability is you issue, VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Energy costs, as and example, are plummeting — Getting close to 2 Dollar a gallon gasoline. When energy goes down, everything else follows, and it has!!! President DJT.”
Rising energy costs have become a key issue in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races, with household electricity rates at about 22 percent higher in July than they were last year. Nationwide, power prices have risen 6.2 percent over the past year, while the national average for gasoline is around $3, according to AAA.
New Jersey’s candidates for governor Mikie Sherrill (D) and Jack Ciattarelli (R) have both focused on energy prices and promised voters that they will lower costs. Ciattarelli called it an affordability crisis, and has called for withdrawing from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an agreement among Northeast states to cap their emissions.
Trump has praised Ciattarelli’s energy affordability plans. The candidate has pointed blame for rising costs at Democrats taking charge of the state government.
Sherrill said she would declare a state of emergency. She’s also called for using “ratepayer protection funds” as a “temporary financial lifeline to help cover the sudden rise in utility costs,” as well as a more broad push to build renewable energy, batteries and energy efficiency upgrades.
Sherrill has called for using “ratepayer protection funds” as a “temporary financial lifeline to help cover the sudden rise in utility costs” and more broadly to push for the buildout of renewable energy, batteries and energy efficiency upgrades.
Compared to the national average for gas, New Jersey’s average is around $2.97, according to AAA.
Down in Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger has said she intends to expand production on solar and wind energy allocation in underused locations. Her opponent, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, argued at a debate last month that solar and wind is “all [Spanberger] wants.”
“Well, if you look outside, the sun isn’t shining and the breeze isn’t blowing, and then what, Abigail, what will you do?” Earle-Sears added.
Virginia’s gas prices are also below the national average at $2.84, according to AAA.
The focus — by the candidates and by Trump — reflect a growing discontent among voters who see energy prices as a growing issue. A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found electricity bills to be a “major” source of stress for 36% of Americans.
