Diesel at $6.36 a gallon pushes Iowa farmer’s bill to $18,000
The price increases have hit at once. Americans are paying $6.36 a gallon for diesel as of Saturday, up from $3.70 a year ago, and $4.38 a gallon for gasoline, up from $3.15, according to AAA data cited by The Wall Street Journal. A large portion of those higher costs has been driven by the U.S. war with Iran, the Journal reported, and the resulting squeeze is reshaping voter attitudes in competitive races from the Midwest to the mid-Atlantic.
Diesel prices are a particular concern for Republicans, the Journal reported, because both trucking and agriculture depend on the fuel. When diesel prices rise, the cost of goods and food delivered and cultivated by diesel-reliant vehicles increases as well, affecting American consumers. A global fuels crunch sent diesel prices to record levels in recent weeks.
In Iowa, recent polls show the Senate race between Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek and Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson running close, and the state’s gubernatorial and several House contests are also tight, the Journal reported.
Aidan Struve, a 23-year-old farmer in Woodward, Iowa, operates his family’s roughly 500-acre farm, which produces corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and oats. Filling up his seven tractors, two semitrailer trucks, and a combine harvester cost about $11,500 for the year in 2025, the Journal reported; this year, it will cost $18,000.
To make up for higher diesel costs, Struve said he was skipping maintenance repairs on his equipment, hoping nothing breaks as harvest season begins. He has cut back hay deliveries to local clients and is meeting up with friends less frequently. He has also picked up extra hours working in residential construction to make up for the year’s losses.
“You just have to suffer through and work harder,” Struve said. “That gives you less time with your family and everything else.” A loyal Republican, Struve said he would vote GOP this fall, but some of his friends are sitting it out or voting for Democrats. He said he was backing Republican Zach Lahn for governor over Democrat Rob Sand because he supports cutting the state gas tax, which Struve said will provide immediate relief to Iowans, and because he believes Lahn better understands Iowa farmers.
Gas prices have also increased this year, affecting small-business owners, taxi and ride-share drivers, and everyday families stretching their household budgets, the Journal reported.
In Allentown, Pa., Enid Santiago told the Journal it now costs $80 to fill up her minivan, up from $50 earlier this year. Santiago, 46, is an airline customer-service employee who has run for state office as a Democrat and has four children. Higher energy prices are giving Democrats a shot to take back her district’s competitive House seat, now held by Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, according to the Journal.
Santiago said she has cut back on going out to eat, extracurricular activities for her children, and entertainment. She said she is enthusiastic to vote for Democrat Bob Brooks to punish Republicans. “We’re cutting back on everything,” she said. “We’re working right now to survive, to pay our mortgage and car insurance and what we need.”
Nick Earls, 23, of Bellaire, Ohio, told the Journal that higher gas prices have pushed him to use coupons and buy generic brands when grocery shopping. As a recent college graduate, Earls said he did not expect to start his adult life feeling so financially constrained. He blamed Republicans for not addressing Americans’ affordability concerns and said he would vote for Democrats for Senate and governor.
“Republicans have had control for a while and have been saying they’d make things better and things have not gotten better,” he said.
While gasoline prices have long been part of the national political discourse, the Journal reported, customers this year have been frustrated by electricity prices, too. Electricity costs rose 3.8% in August from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outpacing the 3.4% increase in consumer prices over the same period.
The reasons electricity costs are rising are complex and vary across the country, the Journal reported, citing research from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. State renewable-energy plans and the replacement of aging or storm-damaged grid equipment have played a role in recent years. New data centers, needed in abundance for artificial intelligence, get much of the blame, but their impact has been mixed; data centers helped keep costs lower in some places but have contributed to increases in regions where electricity supplies have tightened. Especially hot or cold weather can spike bills, which are based on a mix of consumption and fixed costs.
Ed Kirkman, 55, who operates ChaCha’s Hiland Bakery in Des Moines, told the Journal that electricity costs have gone up nearly 30% in the past year. To stay in business, he said he might have to cut hours for his 25 employees or close the shop one or two days a week.
A lifelong registered Republican, Kirkman switched his party registration to independent this year, citing President Trump’s handling of the Iran war and rising costs. He has grown further politically disaffected and has not decided whom he is voting for in the state’s tight gubernatorial race. “We can’t pay people to stand around and lose money. This isn’t sustainable,” Kirkman said. “People are ready for some change. Things aren’t getting better.”