2026-04-22 10:05 AM UTC / 路透社
作者：内森·莱恩
2026年4月22日 世界标准时间10:05 更新于1小时前
节点运行失败
2026年3月10日，美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市中心一处加油站的汽油价格牌。REUTERS/迈克·布莱克/资料图片
[1/2]2026年3月10日，美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶市中心一处加油站的汽油价格牌。REUTERS/迈克·布莱克/资料图片 购买授权，将在新标签页打开
- 内容摘要
- 民主党将密歇根州议员支持伊朗战争与推高油价挂钩
- 共和党议员巴雷特与特朗普的伊朗言论保持距离，但以国家安全为由支持战争
- 当地抗议将高燃油成本与巴雷特的政策挂钩，加剧竞选压力
密歇根州布莱顿4月22日路透电 —— 汤姆·巴雷特曾借助选民对高油价的不满，成功在2024年当选密歇根州联邦众议员。如今这位共和党议员却因同一问题陷入守势，民主党正将其作为翻转该选区席位的突破口。
“密歇根州的汽油每加仑要4美元，”巴雷特2023年8月在加油站拍摄自己加油的视频中说道，“当我当选国会议员后，我们将实现能源自主，掌控汽油价格，让像你家和我家这样的普通家庭能更轻松地负担燃油开支。”
路透社伊朗局势简报新闻通讯将为您带来伊朗战争的最新动态与分析。点击此处订阅。
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在他发布这段社交媒体视频近三年后，密歇根州的平均油价再次接近这一水平，4月初短暂突破每加仑4美元，本周稳定在3.80美元左右，较2月28日伊朗战争爆发以来上涨了27%。
油价上涨让此前在民主党总统乔·拜登执政期间抨击高燃油成本的共和党人陷入守势，距离11月的中期选举已不足一月，众议院控制权岌岌可危，参议院席位也可能易主。
巴雷特面临的困境尤为严峻：他所代表的选区是全美竞争最激烈的选区之一，作为联邦众议员的他已经因该议题遭到民主党攻击。
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在接受路透社采访时，巴雷特承认高油价正挤压选民的钱包，但表示这场战争出于国家安全目的是合理的，并希望油价能够回落。
“油价问题关乎民众生计和生活成本……我不会对此视而不见，”他在底特律以西45英里的小城布莱顿新竞选办公室开业活动后表示，“但这并不意味着选举日当天的油价会和现在一样。”
这种乐观情绪被唐纳德·特朗普总统及其能源部长克里斯·赖特削弱，两人均承认油价可能在选举日前维持高位。
别无良策
拜登执政期间，共和党曾将油价问题作为攻击武器，当时受俄乌战争影响全球能源价格飙升，2022年6月油价峰值突破每加仑5美元。如今全美油价上涨，让原本就计划以该议题参选的共和党人处境更加艰难，而美国民众早已对高食品价格、高房价和医疗成本怨声载道。
对众多共和党候选人而言，油价上涨彻底颠覆了核心竞选策略。他们仍计划将2025年特朗普全面税改法案作为11月选举的宣传重点，但燃油成本上涨让他们更难向受日常开支挤压的美国民众承诺将缓解负担。
一位为竞争激烈选区共和党候选人工作的策略师表示，在吸引更多保守派支持者的党内初选中，候选人必须支持特朗普和这场战争，但在11月的大选中可能不得不与特朗普划清界限。
“当竞选焦点转向独立选民、温和共和党人这类群体时，共和党候选人可能被迫批评总统，”这位要求匿名的策略师说道。
民主党扭转战局
油价并非巴雷特2024年竞选的唯一议题，但他多次提及该问题，作为对抗拜登执政期间通胀的承诺之一。作为拥有22年服役经历的美国陆军老兵，巴雷特以近4个百分点的优势赢得该选区，表现优于同年特朗普在总统选举中1个百分点的胜绩。
例如2024年7月下旬，巴雷特在X平台上发布了四个不同加油站的油价牌照片，价格均徘徊在每加仑4美元左右。
如今，民主党将油价作为有力武器，试图翻转巴雷特所在的以白人为主的选区。该选区以兰辛为中心，涵盖农田和小镇，向东延伸至底特律都会区外围。
4月13日，当地民主党人、农民和活动人士聚集在兰辛郊外的一个加油站，抗议高燃油和化肥价格，呼吁结束战争。“汤姆·巴雷特+伊朗战争=我们买单，”一名抗议者举着的标语写道。另一条标语则写道：“受油价之苦？投票给民主党以求纾困。”
布里吉特·布林克是民主党8月初选目前筹款最多的候选人，她表示如果赢得民主党提名，将持续抨击巴雷特支持战争以及由此引发的油价上涨。
曾在拜登政府时期担任美国驻乌克兰大使的布林克表示，特朗普2025年税改法案中对小费、社保福利和加班费的新税收减免所带来的任何纾困，都被不断上涨的油价抵消了。
“当共和党人说他们在为你减税时，所有这些好处都会被汽油、医疗、食品杂货和住房价格的上涨吞噬，”她说，“我们每周都会谈论油价，因为我们都亲眼所见、亲身感受。”
巴雷特与特朗普保持一定距离
本月早些时候，巴雷特批评特朗普威胁要摧毁伊朗“整个文明”的言论是对人类尊严的冒犯。
但巴雷特曾投票反对限制特朗普战争权的国会决议，并表示支持阻止伊朗获得核武器的举措，称当前高油价源于合理的外交政策选择，与拜登时期的油价飙升不同——他将后者归咎于国内石油生产限制。
当路透社记者提到有一位选民只能负担14美元的汽油费时，巴雷特将话题转向国家安全，反复询问记者是否就伊朗的核野心询问过该选民。
“你有没有问过她是否认为伊朗应该发展核武器？”巴雷特问道。
路透社并未询问这位名叫丹妮尔·刘易斯的选民伊朗的核能力，而是讨论了战争对油价的影响。39岁的刘易斯表示她喜欢巴雷特，可能会在11月继续投票给他。
路透社/益普索的最新民调显示，仅有36%的美国人支持伊朗战争。
除战争议题外，巴雷特的竞选办公室开业活动也展现了共和党中期选举的宣传重点。这位众议员宣传了2025年税改法案，强调扩大儿童税收抵免的好处，另一位联邦众议员丽莎·麦克莱恩则为现场观众预热了攻击话术。
“我认为我们应该将这场选举打造成正常与疯狂的对决，因为他们就是疯狂的，”麦克莱恩称，民主党在跨性别权利和其他文化议题上的立场是其软肋。
巴雷特和麦克莱恩在发言中均未提及油价。
民主党人克里斯汀·沃-弗莱施曼每周要花200美元加油，开车去看孙子孙女。在和共和党朋友讨论通胀问题后，她认为该选区可以被翻转。
“我看到我所在保守派社区的很多人都非常不满，”70岁的美术老师沃-弗莱施曼在巴雷特2023年发布社交媒体视频的同一处密歇根州夏洛特市Quality Dairy加油站为SUV加油时说道，“就是油价、食品价格和医疗成本的问题。”
38岁的HVAC技术员亚历山大·梅尔顿表示，尽管油价上涨增加了他的开支，但他仍计划投票给巴雷特，称这位共和党议员更符合他的保守价值观。
不过他认为，所有以高油价为竞选纲领的政客都能从2024年的选举中得到教训。
“我们无法决定油价，我们的石油依赖进口，如今我们只能任由他人摆布，”梅尔顿说道。
内森·莱恩在密歇根州报道；杰森·兰格在华盛顿补充报道；罗斯·科尔文与安德里亚·里奇编辑
本报守则：汤森路透信任原则。
Tables turn as Republicans face gas-price attacks they once used on Democrats
2026-04-22 10:05 AM UTC / Reuters
By Nathan Layne
April 22, 2026 10:05 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago
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High prices for gasoline are shown at a gas station in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 10, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo
[1/2]High prices for gasoline are shown at a gas station in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 10, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
- Democrats target Michigan lawmaker’s support for Iran war as fueling gas price hikes
- Republican Barrett distances himself from Trump’s Iran rhetoric but backs war for national security
- Local protests link high fuel costs to Barrett’s policies, intensifying campaign pressure
BRIGHTON, Michigan, April 22 (Reuters) – Tom Barrett tapped into voter frustration over high gas prices as part of his successful 2024 run for Congress in Michigan. Now the Republican is on the defensive on that same issue as Democrats see an opportunity to flip his seat.
“Gas in Michigan is four bucks a gallon,” Barrett said as he filmed himself filling up his tank at a gas station in August 2023. “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.”
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Nearly three years after he posted that video to social media, average gas prices in Michigan are back near the same level, briefly topping $4 in early April before settling around $3.80 this week, up 27% since the Iran war began on February 28.
The surge has put Republicans who campaigned against high fuel costs under Democratic President Joe Biden on the defensive heading into November’s midterm elections, with control of the House at stake and the Senate potentially in play.
The vulnerability is especially acute for Barrett, who represents one of the country’s most competitive districts as a U.S. congressman and is already facing Democratic attacks on the issue.
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In an interview with Reuters, Barrett acknowledged that gasoline prices were squeezing his constituents’ finances but said the war was justified on national security grounds and expressed hope that prices would fall.
“Gas is an issue that affects people’s livelihoods, the affordability of things … I’m not dismissing any of that,” he said after the opening of a new campaign office in Brighton, a small city 45 miles west of Detroit. “But that doesn’t mean gas is going to be the same price on Election Day as it is today.”
That optimism has been undercut by both President Donald Trump and his energy secretary, Chris Wright, who have acknowledged that gasoline prices could remain high through Election Day.
FEW GOOD OPTIONS
Republicans across the country are grappling with how to campaign amid high gas prices after weaponizing the issue during the Biden years, when prices peaked above $5 a gallon in June 2022 as Russia’s war on Ukraine provoked a sharp rise in global energy prices. The recent rise in gas prices has exacerbated Republicans’ woes heading into the election, with Americans already disgruntled by high food and property prices as well as healthcare costs.
For many Republican candidates, the rise in gasoline prices has upended a central campaign strategy. They still plan to focus November’s elections on Trump’s sweeping 2025 tax bill, but the higher fuel costs have made it harder for them to sell the promised relief to Americans squeezed by everyday expenses.
One strategist working for a Republican in a competitive House race said that candidates must back Trump and the war during party primaries that attract more conservative supporters but may have to break with him in the November general election.
“When the campaign focus becomes independent voters, soft Republicans, folks like that, then Republican candidates may be forced to be critical of the president,” said the strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
DEMOCRATS TURN TABLES ON REPUBLICANS
Gas was not the sole focus of Barrett’s 2024 campaign, but he repeatedly returned to the issue as part of a pledge to fight inflation under Biden. A 22-year U.S. Army veteran, Barrett won the district by nearly four percentage points, outperforming Trump’s one-point win in the presidential election the same year.
In late July 2024, for example, Barrett posted photos on X of gas price signs from four different stations, all hovering around $4 a gallon.
Now, Democrats see gas prices as a potent weapon in their effort to flip Barrett’s predominantly white district, which is centered on Lansing and stretches across farmland and small towns, and east toward the outer edge of the Detroit metro area.
On April 13, local Democrats, farmers and activists gathered at a gas station outside Lansing to protest high fuel and fertilizer prices and call for an end to the war. “Tom Barrett + Iran War and We Pay,” read the sign carried by one protester. “Got Gas Pains? Vote Democrat for Relief,” read another.
Bridget Brink, the Democrat who has raised the most money so far ahead of her party’s August primary, said if she won the Democratic nomination she would hammer Barrett on his support for the war and the resulting spike in gas prices.
Brink, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine under Biden, said any relief from new tax breaks on tips, Social Security benefits, and overtime pay in Trump’s 2025 tax bill was being outweighed by rising gas prices.
“When Republicans say they’re cutting your taxes, all of that gets lost in bigger prices on gas, healthcare, groceries, and housing,” she said. “We’ll be talking about gas prices every week, because we all see it and feel it.”
BARRETT CREATES SOME DISTANCE FROM TRUMP
Earlier this month, Barrett criticized Trump’s threat to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization” as an affront to human dignity.
Yet Barrett voted against a congressional resolution to limit Trump’s war powers and says he supports efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, arguing that current high gas prices stem from a justified foreign-policy choice, unlike a Biden-era spike he blames on limits on domestic oil production.
After a Reuters reporter mentioned interviewing a constituent who could afford to put only $14 of gas into her car, Barrett redirected the conversation to national security, repeatedly asking whether she had been questioned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Did you ask her if she thought Iran should develop a nuclear weapon?” Barrett asked.
Reuters did not ask the constituent, Danielle Lewis, about Iran’s nuclear capabilities but discussed the war’s impact on gas prices. Lewis, 39, said she liked Barrett and would likely vote for him in November.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos polling shows that only 36% of Americans support the war in Iran.
Beyond the war, Barrett’s campaign office opening offered a glimpse of Republicans’ midterm pitch. The congressman promoted the 2025 tax bill, stressing the benefits of an expanded child tax credit, while another House member, Lisa McLain, previewed attack lines for the crowd.
“I think we make this election a contrast election between normal and crazy, because they are crazy,” said McLain, casting Democrats’ positions on transgender rights and other cultural issues as liabilities.
Neither Barrett nor McLain mentioned gas prices in their remarks.
Democrat Christine Waugh‑Fleischmann, who spends up to $200 a week on gas for drives to see her grandchildren, said after discussions with Republican friends about inflation she believes the district can be flipped.
“I do see a lot of people in my conservative neighborhood here who are very upset,” said the 70-year-old art teacher, as she filled her SUV at the same Quality Dairy gasoline station in Charlotte, Michigan where Barrett made his 2023 social media post.
“It’s gas. It’s grocery prices, it’s healthcare costs.”
Alexander Melton, 38, an HVAC technician, said he still planned to vote for Barrett despite higher gas prices that have raised his costs, saying the Republican better aligned with his conservative values.
However, he does see a cautionary lesson from the 2024 election for all politicians campaigning on high gas prices.
“We don’t dictate the price of gas. We’re getting it from overseas, and at this point now we’re at the mercy of everybody else,” Melton said.
Reporting by Nathan Layne in Michigan; Additional reporting by Jason Lange in Washington, Editing by Ross Colvin and Andrea Ricci
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.