March 30, 2026 12:08 PM UTC

Skyrocketing Gas Prices Leave Colorado Republicans Terrified

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

The price of gasoline is skyrocketing across the country, with Colorado among the hardest-hit states. The average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Colorado has risen by more than a dollar in just the last month.

We don’t need to tell you that it has become significantly more expensive to fill up your gas tank. We also don’t need to tell you why the price of gas is rising so quickly. To paraphrase a famous political line: It’s the Iran War, stupid.

In a feature story for The Denver Post over the weekend, John Aguilar dug into the political consequences of the astronomical gas prices for vulnerable Republican incumbents such as Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Ft. Lupton):

Four years ago, stickers of then-President Joe Biden began proliferating at gas stations nationwide as the cost of gasoline soared. Featuring an image of the 46th president pointing at the price displayed on the pump, they were captioned with the words, “I did that!”

Gas prices are once again on the rise a month after the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, resulting in a severe crimp in the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. And fingers are once again pointing at the party occupying the White House, now led by President Donald Trump.

But this time, the blame game has taken on a distinctly more digital and targeted approach as November’s midterm elections come into view.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week launched an ad campaign targeting Republican incumbents it believes are vulnerable in 44 congressional districts, including U.S. Reps. Jeff Crank in the Colorado Springs-based 5th District and Gabe Evans in the 8th District north of Denver.

The ultrashort six-second video ad shows numbers racing upwards on a pump with the words “D.C. Republicans Did That!” It’s being “geo-targeted” to people’s Facebook and Instagram feeds when they come within close range of select gas stations in either district.

Politics comes at you fast. One year ago, Evans was bragging on social media that House Republicans deserved credit for low gas prices. If that was true in January 2025, then the reverse is certainly fair game 14 months later. As Aguilar continues for the Post:

It’s no surprise that Democrats are taking advantage of elevated prices at the pump to gain political advantage, said Jon Krosnick, a political science professor at Stanford University. He co-authored a 2016 study titled “Presidential Approval and Gas Prices,” which found that a 10-cent increase led to a 0.6-percentage-point drop in support…

…Gas prices play an outsized role in how people gauge the severity of inflation at any given moment, Krosnick said. On nearly every corner of major thoroughfares throughout the country, giant lighted signs display the price of petrol.

“There’s no other consumer good that is as advertised to consumers like gasoline,” Krosnick said. “Not everybody in the family may be filling up the car, but everyone is driving past gas stations every day.” [Pols emphasis]

Republicans have tried different messages on gas prices as the Iran War continues, from claiming that high prices are actually good for Americans to vacuous promises that pain at the pump “will be over soon.” It’s safe to say these narratives are not landing with average Coloradans. Aguilar spoke to Michael Kondur, a handyman who was filling up his truck last week at a Valero station in Evans’ congressional district (CO-08):

“It’s the first time I’ve had a full tank in three weeks — and it will be gone in three days,” he said, also using choice words to describe Trump and Republicans in general. “I run my own business with this truck and I don’t have food on my table. Any Republican has got to go.” [Pols emphasis]

Former Colorado Republican Party Chair Dick Wadhams told the Post that “Gabe has a good argument against Democrats that they want to kill the oil and gas industry.” This seems like more of a wish than a realistic message. Trying to tie rising gas prices to energy policies in Colorado only makes sense if you believe that Coloradans aren’t aware of the daily headlines about the Iran War.

That narrative also isn’t compatible with how most people view efforts to move toward renewable energy. As the most recent data from the annual “State of the Rockies” poll from Colorado College shows, Evans’ pivot might work…in Wyoming:

With Congressional Republicans such as Evans and Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo. Springs) unwilling to push back on President Trump’s complete lack of a plan for the Iran War, gas prices are likely to get worse. If prices reach $5 per gallon, which is more than possible, that sticker shock will dominate headlines and steamroll any effort by Republicans to spin the narrative. Voters won’t care what Evans and Crank say about why gas prices are so high — they’ll just keep blaming them until prices come back down.

Perhaps that’s why Evans’ own spokesperson is trying to go incognito. As Aguilar writes for the Post:

A spokewoman for Evans’ campaign who declined to give her name [Pols emphasis] called the Democrats’ stance on gas prices “hypocritical” in a statement.

We wouldn’t want to be identified as trying to shine that turd, either.